crank

¹ American  

[krangk] / kræŋk /

noun

1. Machinery. any of several types of arms or levers for imparting rotary or oscillatory motion to a rotating shaft, one end of the crank being fixed to the shaft and the other end receiving reciprocating motion from a hand, connecting rod, etc.

2. Informal. an ill-tempered, grouchy person.

3. an unbalanced person who is overzealous in the advocacy of a private cause.

4. an eccentric or whimsical notion.

5. a strikingly clever turn of speech or play on words.

6. Archaic. a bend; turn.

7. Slang. the nasal decongestant propylhexedrine, used illicitly for its euphoric effects.

8. Automotive Slang. a crankshaft.

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verb (used with object)

cranks, present (3rd person singular) cranked, past participle, past cranking present participle

1. to bend into or make in the shape of a crank.

2. to furnish with a crank.

3. Machinery. to rotate (a shaft) by means of a crank.

4. to start (an internal-combustion engine) by turning the crankshaft manually or by means of a small motor.

5. to start the engine of (a motor vehicle) by turning the crankshaft manually.

verb (used without object)

cranks, present (3rd person singular) cranked, past participle, past cranking present participle

1. to turn a crank, as in starting an automobile engine.

2. Obsolete. to turn and twist; zigzag.

adjective

1. unstable; shaky; unsteady.

2. of, relating to, or by an unbalanced or overzealous person.

   a crank phone call; crank mail.

3. British Dialect. cranky.

verb phrase

1. crank out to make or produce in a mass-production, effortless, or mechanical way.

   She's able to crank out one best-selling novel after another.

2. crank in / into to incorporate as an integral part.

   Overhead is cranked into the retail cost.

3. crank down to cause to diminish or terminate.

   the president's efforts to crank down inflation.

4. crank up

   1. to get started or ready.

      The theater season is cranking up with four benefit performances.

   2. to stimulate, activate, or produce.

      to crank up enthusiasm for a new product.

   3. to increase one's efforts, output, etc..

      Industry began to crank up after the new tax incentives became law.

crank ² American  

[krangk] / kræŋk /

adjective

Nautical.

1. Also having a tendency to roll easily, as a boat or ship; tender (opposed to stiff).

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noun

1. a crank vessel.

crank ³ American  

[krangk] / kræŋk /

adjective

British Dialect.

1. lively; high-spirited.

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crank ¹ British  

/ kræŋk /

noun

1. a device for communicating motion or for converting reciprocating motion into rotary motion or vice versa. It consists of an arm projecting from a shaft, often with a second member attached to it parallel to the shaft

2. Also called: crank handle.   starting handle.  a handle incorporating a crank, used to start an engine or motor

3. informal

   1. an eccentric or odd person, esp someone who stubbornly maintains unusual views

   2. a bad-tempered person

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verb

1. (tr) to rotate (a shaft) by means of a crank

2. (tr) to start (an engine, motor, etc) by means of a crank handle

3. (tr) to bend, twist, or make into the shape of a crank

4. obsolete (intr) to twist or wind

crank ² British  

/ kræŋk /

adjective

1. (of a sailing vessel) easily keeled over by the wind; tender

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• crankness
  noun
• crankless
  adjective
• noncranking
  adjective
• uncranked
  adjective
• crankly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• cranking
  present
• cranked
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• crank
  simple
• cranks
  simple
• have cranked
  perfect
• has cranked
  perfect
• am cranking
  progressive
• are cranking
  progressive
• is cranking
  progressive
• have been cranking
  perfect progressive
• has been cranking
  perfect progressive

Past

• cranked
  simple
• had cranked
  perfect
• was cranking
  progressive
• were cranking
  progressive
• had been cranking
  perfect progressive

Future

• will crank
  simple
• will have cranked
  perfect
• will be cranking
  progressive
• will have been cranking
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of crank¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English crank, cronk, Old English cranc-, in crancstæf, a kind of weaver's tool ( see staff ¹)

Origin of crank²

First recorded in 1690–1700; probably to be identified with crank ¹, but sense development unclear; see also crank-sided

Origin of crank³

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English cranke; of obscure origin

Explanation

To crank is to turn or rotate something using a handle or lever. The earliest automobiles required drivers to crank the engine before they could climb in and start driving. You might crank a paper towel machine in a restroom to unspool the towels, or crank a music box to start it up — in either case, you're turning a handle, which is also called a crank. You can also say that you crank up the engine when you start your car, even though you're not literally turning or winding anything. A completely different kind of crank is a grouchy, opinionated person. This last meaning comes from cranky.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

crank cranks cranked cranking

He also visited Willow, a roughly $9 billion oil project by ConocoPhillips that is due to enter production in 2029 and crank out 180,000 barrels of oil a day at its peak.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026

Exercise makes your cells crank out more energy, helps your heart pump more blood, and your lungs bring in more air.

From Barron's ● Jun. 27, 2026

So crank up the Victrola, press play on Spotify and nestle into your headphones.

From Salon ● Jun. 5, 2026

Subtitled “An Almost History of America” and arriving on the eve of the nation’s semiquincentennial, this seven-episode sketch comedy comes from Larry David, television’s great luckless crank, and Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2026

“No problem. Do you have one of those beds you can crank up and down?”

From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt

Mr. Stein says that serious baseball fans in the 1860s were called cranks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026

But cranks like him seem especially at home in the 1970s — the mad-as-hell decade — when their polyester button-downs make them look extra itchy around the collar.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 8, 2026

Your town has meetings you can attend in person, where local cranks will help explain the agenda to you.

From Salon ● Dec. 3, 2025

In the past, Reichsbürger were often dismissed as eccentric cranks because of their outlandish ideas.

From BBC ● May 13, 2025

The ride cranks up, and we spin round and round, and I’m screaming, “Whee!”

From "Like Vanessa" by Tami Charles

In the late 1990s, Greenspan’s Fed kept its foot off the brakes as economic growth cranked up to an annual clip of more than 4% for several years.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 22, 2026

As Archer cranked up the pace, Phillips spent plenty of time on the floor, ducking and diving.

From BBC ● Jun. 17, 2026

“I just cranked up the leverage and prayed to Jeff,” Gallo says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 13, 2026

Now they are working on a backlog, while players and their agents have no doubt tried to exploit the time pressure that has been cranked up.

From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2026

He cranked his neck to look at Anya when she stomped in.

From Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack

Beijing introduced new rules this month cracking down on overseas investments, citing national security concerns and cranking up curbs on buying US shares that were imposed on Chinese investors in May.

From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026

We may not have a great history of cranking out international soccer players, but lawyers?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026

This gives the heart a bigger job of pumping it around the body and it copes by dialling up the blood pressure - a bit like cranking the tap on a garden hose pipe.

From BBC ● May 15, 2026

Iger determined that Disney was cranking out too many TV shows and made-for-streaming movies, many of which didn’t live up to the company’s high standards of quality and diluted its blockbuster franchises.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2026

So there I was cranking out words, trying to find the first dollar word of the year, when what do I hear?

From "Because of Mr. Terupt" by Rob Buyea

Related Words

• zealot