cranny

[ kran-ee ]

noun

, plural cran·nies.

1. a small, narrow opening in a wall, rock, etc.; chink; crevice; fissure:

   They searched every nook and cranny for the missing ring.

2. a small out-of-the-way place or obscure corner; nook.

cranny

/ ˈkrænɪ /

noun

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

Derived Forms

• ˈcrannied, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of cranny¹

1400–50; late Middle English crany, perhaps < Middle French crené, past participle of crener to notch, groove; crenel

Word History and Origins

Origin of cranny¹

C15: from Old French cran notch, fissure; compare crenel

Idioms and Phrases

see nook and cranny .

Example Sentences

Don’t overlook the tiny nooks and crannies of food compartments.

From Popular-Science

“We’re busy getting Bob into every nook and cranny,” Kowalski said in an interview.

From Washington Post

Additional imaging with a 3D or 4D Doppler would allow a physician to evaluate the nooks and crannies of the fetus and the cord.

From Popular-Science

While most highly-automated warehouses are built around machines from the start, Stretch will be able to roll into corners and crannies not designed for automation and get to work.

From Singularity Hub 

Keep going around the artichoke, filling every nook and cranny.

From Washington Post

Rawashda is holding his laptop as he points out every nook and cranny of his studio apartment.

From The Daily Beast

Unlike the three-walled sets of Hollywood soundstages, this is made for every nook and cranny to be filmed.

From The Daily Beast

Those scenes that are just in every nook and cranny at the Grand Ole Opry, that to me is the beauty of the show.

From The Daily Beast

Mousack is piped into every nook and cranny of the damn ship: the elevators, the restaurants, the hallways.

From The Daily Beast

The old miner set the machine working, and the light flashed into every nook and cranny of the subterranean cavern.

From Project Gutenberg

There was not one nook or cranny into which that ruthless self-knowledge could not throw its cruel glare.

From Project Gutenberg

It was his theory of Duty, expanded till it penetrated 57 every cranny of the individual soul.

From Project Gutenberg

There was no cranny in the rocks too small for them to reconnoiter with caution.

From Project Gutenberg

Are we wise to hide from life, like a lizard in a cranny of a wall?

From Project Gutenberg