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cranny

[ kran-ee ]
/ ˈkræn i /
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR cranny ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural cran·nies.

a small, narrow opening in a wall, rock, etc.; chink; crevice; fissure: They searched every nook and cranny for the missing ring.
a small out-of-the-way place or obscure corner; nook.

RELATED WORDS

niche, fissure, interstice, gap, crevice, breach, crack, cleft, hole, chink

Nearby words

  1. cranmer,
  2. cranmer, thomas,
  3. crannequin,
  4. crannied,
  5. crannog,
  6. cranreuch,
  7. cranston,
  8. cranwell,
  9. crap,
  10. crap around

Origin of cranny

1400–50; late Middle English crany, perhaps < Middle French crené, past participle of crener to notch, groove; see crenel
Can be confusedcranny nook
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for cranny

British Dictionary definitions for cranny

cranny

/ (ˈkrænɪ) /

noun plural -nies

a narrow opening, as in a wall or rock face; chink; crevice (esp in the phrase every nook and cranny)
Derived Formscrannied, adjective

Word Origin for cranny

C15: from Old French cran notch, fissure; compare crenel
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for cranny

cranny

n.

mid-15c., possibly from a diminutive of Middle French cran "notch, fissure" (14c.), from crener "to notch, split," from Medieval Latin crenare, possibly from Latin cernere "to separate, sift" (see crisis). But OED casts doubt on this derivation.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with cranny

cranny

see nook and cranny.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.