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crank

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crank¹

  • /kɹænk/ UK
  • /kɹaŋk/ British, Midlands, Northern England
  • /kɾaŋk/ Scotland, Wales
  • /kɹæːnk/ Australia
  • /kɹɛŋk/ New Zealand
  • /kɹæŋk/ US
  • /kɹeɪŋk/ US
  • /kɹæŋk/
  • [kɹæŋk]
  • /kɹæŋk/ Southern US
  • [kɹæŋk] ~ [kɹæə̯ŋk] ~ [kɹɛə̯ŋk] Southern US
  • /kɹæŋk/ Inland Northern American
  • [kɹɛə̯ŋk] Inland Northern American
  • /kɹeɪŋk/
  • [kɹeɪ̯ŋk] ~ [kɹeːŋk]
  • [kɹeɪŋk] ~ [kɹɛːŋk] ~ [kɹæŋk]

Rhymes with -æŋk

Where it comes from

From Dutch or Low German krank, ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *krank, from Proto-Germanic *krangaz, *krankaz (“bent; weak”). Cognate with Scots crank, krank, German krank (“sick”).

adjective cranker · crankest

  1. dialectal Hard; difficult.
  2. informal Strange; weird; odd.
  3. dialectal Bent; twisted; crooked; distorted; out of repair.
  4. Sick; unwell.

    Similar: infirm

  5. of a ship Liable to capsize because of poorly stowed cargo or insufficient ballast. This ship is so crank and walty I fear our grave she will be!
  6. Full of spirit; brisk; lively; sprightly; overconfident; opinionated. He who was a little before bedred[…]was now cranke and lustie.

noun cranks

  1. dialectal An ailment, ache.
  2. informal An ill-tempered or nasty person. Billy-Bob is a nasty old crank! He chased my cat away.
  3. A twist or turn of the mind; caprice; whim.
  4. A fit of temper or passion. Violent of temper; subject to sudden cranks.
  5. UK, dated, informal, in US A person who is considered strange or odd by others, and may behave in unconventional ways. John is a crank because he talks to himself.

    Similar: kook, odd duck, weirdo, crackpot, bizarro, coot, crank, eccentric, freak, glaik, hard case, live one

  6. informal An amateur in science or other technical subjects who persistently advocates flawed theories. That crank next door thinks he’s created cold fusion in his garage.
  7. archaic, slang A baseball fan.
  8. obsolete A sick person; an invalid. Thou art a counterfeit crank, a cheater.

crank²

  • /kɹænk/ UK
  • /kɹaŋk/ British, Midlands, Northern England
  • /kɾaŋk/ Scotland, Wales
  • /kɹæːnk/ Australia
  • /kɹɛŋk/ New Zealand
  • /kɹæŋk/ US
  • /kɹeɪŋk/ US
  • /kɹæŋk/
  • [kɹæŋk]
  • /kɹæŋk/ Southern US
  • [kɹæŋk] ~ [kɹæə̯ŋk] ~ [kɹɛə̯ŋk] Southern US
  • /kɹæŋk/ Inland Northern American
  • [kɹɛə̯ŋk] Inland Northern American
  • /kɹeɪŋk/
  • [kɹeɪ̯ŋk] ~ [kɹeːŋk]
  • [kɹeɪŋk] ~ [kɹɛːŋk] ~ [kɹæŋk]

Rhymes with -æŋk

Where it comes from

From Middle English crank, cronk, from a shortening of Old English crancstæf (“weaving tool, crank”, literally “bent or crooked staff”), the first element ultimately related to Etymology 1 above.

noun cranks

  1. A bent piece of an axle or shaft, or an attached arm perpendicular, or nearly so, to the end of a shaft or wheel, used to impart a rotation to a wheel or other mechanical device; also used to change circular into reciprocating motion, or reciprocating into circular motion. I grind my coffee by hand with a coffee grinder with a crank handle.
  2. abbreviation, clipping Clipping of crankshaft
  3. The act of converting power into motion, by turning a crankshaft. Yes, a crank was all it needed to start.
  4. archaic Any bend, turn, or winding, as of a passage. So many turning cranks these have, so many crooks.
  5. US, slang Synonym of methamphetamine. Danny got abscesses from shooting all that bathtub crank.

    Similar: methamphetamine

  6. rare A twist or turn in speech; word play consisting in a change of the form or meaning of a word. Quips and Cranks, and wanton Wiles,
  7. slang The penis. It was going to be hard not to blow with a girl like her sucking on his crank.

    Similar: cock, dick, anaconda, baloney pony, bald-headed hermit, banana, bird, birdie, bobby, boonga, cack, choad

verb cranks · cranking · cranked · crunk

  1. transitive To turn by means of a crank. Motorists had to crank their engine by hand.
  2. intransitive To turn a crank. He's been cranking all day and yet it refuses to crank.
  3. intransitive, of a crank or similar To turn. He's been cranking all day and yet it refuses to crank.
  4. transitive To cause to spin via other means, as though turned by a crank. I turn the key and crank the engine; yet it doesn't turn over
  5. intransitive To act in a cranky manner; to behave unreasonably and irritably, especially through complaining. Quit cranking about your spilt milk!
  6. intransitive To be running at a high level of output or effort. By one hour into the shift, the boys were really cranking.
  7. dated, intransitive To run with a winding course; to double; to crook; to wind and turn. See how this river comes me cranking in.

Crank³

proper noun Cranks

  1. countable, uncountable A surname.
  2. countable, uncountable A small village in Rainford parish, St Helens borough, Merseyside, England (OS grid ref SJ5099).

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: crackpot, nutcase, unstable, cranky, tender, crosspatch, grump, grouch, tippy, churl, crank up, zigzag, starter, fruitcake, screwball, nut

Translations

Every language

noun a bent piece of an axle or shaft, or an arm attached to the end of a shaft or wheel, used to impart a rotation

Españolmanivela, cigüeñuela, rabil, biela
中文曲柄 qūbǐng
Portuguêsmanivela
Françaismanivelle
DeutschKurbel
Italianomanovella
Ελληνικάστρόφαλος strófalos
Românămanivelă coarbă
Русскийкривоши́п krivošíp
Tiếng Việtgiò đĩa
العربيةمِرْفَق mirfaq

noun act of turning a crankshaft

Españolrotar, girar, dar vuelta a
DeutschKurbeln
Românărotire, învârtire

noun any bend, turn, or winding, as of a passage

Españolcurva
Русскийкрюк krjuk, поворо́т povorót, изги́б izgíb

noun ill-tempered or nasty person

Españolcascarrabias, maniático
DeutschMiesepeter
Ελληνικάμονομανής monomanís, λοξίας loxías
Românămaniac

noun slang: strange person

Françaistordu, original
DeutschSonderling, Spinner, wunderlicher Kauz
Русскийчуда́к čudák

noun pseudoscience advocate

中文民間科學家 /民间科学家 mínjiān kēxuéjiā, 民科 mínkē
Русскийфрик frik

verb to turn by means of a crank

Deutschankurbeln

verb to turn a crank

Deutschkurbeln

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Cite this
MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX
@misc{crank_2026,
  title = {crank},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/crank},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}