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crane

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crane¹

  • /kɹeɪn/ US, UK
  • /kɹæɪn/ Australia, New Zealand
  • /kɾen/ Scotland
  • /kɾeːn/ Wales

Rhymes with -eɪn

Where it comes from

From Middle English crane, from Old English cran (“crane”), from Proto-West Germanic *kran, *kranō, from Proto-Germanic *kranô (“crane”), from Proto-Indo-European *gerh₂- (“to cry hoarsely”).

Cognate with Scots cran (“crane”), Dutch kraan (“crane”), German Low German Kroon (“crane”), German Kran (“crane”). The mechanical devices are named from their likeness to the bird.

noun cranes

  1. Any bird of the family Gruidae, large birds with long legs and a long neck which is extended during flight. Aquatic birds of various kinds are very numerous, such as geese, darters (Flotus melanogaster), scissor-bills (Rhynchops nigra), adjutants (Leptoptilos argala), pelicans, cormorants, cranes (Grus antigone, in Burmese gyoja), whimbrels, plovers, and ibises.
  2. US, dialectal Ardea herodias, the great blue heron.
  3. A mechanical lifting machine or device, often used for lifting heavy loads for industrial or construction purposes. Large cranes were virtually non-existent in the areas I worked with this truck, so we jacked everything on and off[.]
  4. An iron arm with horizontal motion, attached to the side or back of a fireplace for supporting kettles etc. over the fire.
  5. A siphon, or bent pipe, for drawing liquors out of a cask.
  6. A forked post or projecting bracket to support spars, etc.; generally used in pairs.

verb cranes · craning · craned

  1. ambitransitive To extend (one's neck). and my bachelor's hearth is imbedded where by much craning of head and neck I can catch sight of a sycamore in the Square garden,
  2. transitive To raise or lower with, or as if with, a crane. What engines, what instruments are used in craning up a soul, sunk below the centre, to the highest heavens.
  3. intransitive To pull up before a jump.

crane²

  • /kɹeɪn/ US, UK
  • /kɹæɪn/ Australia, New Zealand
  • /kɾen/ Scotland
  • /kɾeːn/ Wales

Rhymes with -eɪn

Where it comes from

From Middle English crane, cranee, from Old French cran, from Medieval Latin crānium.

noun cranes

  1. obsolete The cranium.

crane³

  • /kɹeɪn/ US, UK
  • /kɹæɪn/ Australia, New Zealand
  • /kɾen/ Scotland
  • /kɾeːn/ Wales

Rhymes with -eɪn

noun cranes

  1. alternative Alternative form of cran (“measure of herrings”).

Crane⁴

  • /kɹɛɪn/ UK

Where it comes from

* As an English surname, from the noun crane.

* As a Dutch surname, spelling variant of Krane.

* As a German surname, adaptation of Krahn and Krahnich.

proper noun Cranes

  1. countable A surname.
  2. countable, uncountable A minor river in Dorset, England, which becomes the Moors River near Verwood; the name is a back-formation from Cranborne.
  3. countable, uncountable A minor river in Greater London, England, which joins the Thames between St Margarets and Isleworth.
  4. countable, uncountable A town in Perry Township, Martin County, Indiana.
  5. countable, uncountable A town in Stone County, Missouri.
  6. countable, uncountable A census-designated place in Richland County, Montana.
  7. countable, uncountable A census-designated place in Harney County, Oregon.
  8. countable, uncountable A city, the county seat of Crane County, Texas.
  9. countable, uncountable An unincorporated community in Bath County, Virginia.
  10. countable, uncountable An unincorporated community in Clallam County, Washington.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: stretch out, skull, head, boom, wheelchair, grue, truck, hoist, lifting, davit, lift, hok, keren, hak, crean, winch

Translations

Every language

noun bird

Españolgrulla, grúa
한국어두루미 durumi, 학 hak
日本語鶴 tsuru, ツル tsuru
中文鶴 /鹤 hè
हिन्दीसारस sāras
Kiswahilikorongo
Portuguêsgrou
Françaisgrue
DeutschKranich
Italianogru
Ελληνικάγερανός geranós
Românăcocor, grui
Русскийжура́вль žurávlʹ
Tiếng Việtsếu, hạc
العربيةكُرْكِيّ kurkiyy, غُرْنُوق ḡurnūq
עבריתעָגוּר agúr

noun machinery

Españolgrúa, güinche, guinche, titán, cabria, machina
한국어기중기 gijunggi, 크레인 keurein
日本語クレーン kurēn, 起重機 kijūki
中文吊車 /吊车 diàochē, 起重機 /起重机 qǐzhòngjī
हिन्दीक्रेन kren
Portuguêsguindaste, grua
Françaisgrue
DeutschKran
Italianogru
Ελληνικάγερανός geranós
Românămacara
Русскийкран kran, подъёмный кран podʺjómnyj kran
Tiếng Việtcần cẩu
العربيةرَافِعَة rāfiʕa
עבריתעֲגוּרָן agurán, מָנוֹף manóf

verb to extend (one's neck)

Españolestirar el cuello, tener el cuello caído
中文伸長 /伸长 shēncháng, 探頭 /探头 tàntóu
Kiswahilisongeza
Françaisétirer (le cou)
Deutschden Hals recken
Românăîntinde (gâtul)
Русскийвытя́гивать vytjágivatʹ, вы́тянуть výtjanutʹ
العربيةرَفَعَ rafaʕa

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Cite this
MLA

"crane." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/crane. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

crane. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/crane

Chicago

"crane." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/crane.

BibTeX
@misc{crane_2026,
  title = {crane},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/crane},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}