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• crane
  crane

  noun

  any large wading bird of the family Gruidae, characterized by long legs, bill, and neck and an elevated hind toe.
• Crane
  Crane

  noun

  (Harold) Hart, 1899–1932, U.S. poet.

crane

¹ American  

[krayn] / kreɪn /

noun

• cranes
  plural

1. any large wading bird of the family Gruidae, characterized by long legs, bill, and neck and an elevated hind toe.

2. (not used scientifically) any of various similar birds of other families, as the great blue heron.

3. Machinery. a device for lifting and moving heavy weights in suspension.

4. any of various similar devices, as a horizontally swinging arm by a fireplace, used for suspending pots over the fire.

5. Movies, Television. a vehicle having a long boom on which a camera can be mounted for taking shots from high angles.

6. Nautical. any of a number of supports for a boat or spare spar on the deck or at the side of a vessel.

7. Astronomy. Crane, the constellation Grus.

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verb (used with object)

• cranes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• craned,
  past participle,  past
• craning
  present participle

1. to hoist, lower, or move by or as by a crane.

2. to stretch (the neck) as a crane does.

verb (used without object)

• cranes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• craned,
  past participle,  past
• craning
  present participle

1. to stretch out one's neck, especially to see better.

2. to hesitate at danger, difficulty, etc.

Crane ² American  

[krayn] / kreɪn /

noun

1. (Harold) Hart, 1899–1932, U.S. poet.

2. Stephen, 1871–1900, U.S. novelist, poet, and short-story writer.

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crane ¹ British  

/ kreɪn /

noun

1. any large long-necked long-legged wading bird of the family Gruidae, inhabiting marshes and plains in most parts of the world except South America, New Zealand, and Indonesia: order Gruiformes See also demoiselle whooping crane

2. (not in ornithological use) any similar bird, such as a heron

3. a device for lifting and moving heavy objects, typically consisting of a moving boom, beam, or gantry from which lifting gear is suspended See also gantry

4. films a large trolley carrying a boom, on the end of which is mounted a camera

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verb

1. (tr) to lift or move (an object) by or as if by a crane

2. to stretch out (esp the neck), as to see over other people's heads

3. (intr) (of a horse) to pull up short before a jump

Crane ² British  

/ kreɪn /

noun

1. ( Harold ) Hart. 1899–1932, US poet; author of The Bridge (1930)

2. Stephen. 1871–1900, US novelist and short-story writer, noted particularly for his novel The Red Badge of Courage (1895)

3. Walter. 1845–1915, British painter, illustrator of children's books, and designer of textiles and wallpaper

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• cranes
  plural

Participles

• craning
  present
• craned
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• crane
  simple
• cranes
  simple
• have craned
  perfect
• has craned
  perfect
• am craning
  progressive
• are craning
  progressive
• is craning
  progressive
• have been craning
  perfect progressive
• has been craning
  perfect progressive

Past

• craned
  simple
• had craned
  perfect
• was craning
  progressive
• were craning
  progressive
• had been craning
  perfect progressive

Future

• will crane
  simple
• will have craned
  perfect
• will be craning
  progressive
• will have been craning
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of crane

First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English cran; cognate with German Kran, Greek géranos

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Explanation

A crane is an elegant white bird with a very long neck. You're most likely to see cranes wading near shorelines and in marshy areas. There are fifteen species of cranes, and almost all of them are endangered. Cranes are known for their odd mating dances and for the fact that they typically mate for life. When you crane your neck, you stretch it in order to get a better view of something — like a crane might do. The tall machine also known as a crane is clearly named for the long-necked bird as well.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

crane Crane cranes craned craning

Everest — like lowering a crane into an icefall crevasse by helicopter.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026

Opening the case on Monday, prosecutor Alexandra Healy KC said Boor had been walking towards some shops with a friend, Chelsea Mustafa, when the bricks fell from a crane.

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026

A car being shipped by container must first be taken to a facility near a port, where it is loaded into a box and then lifted by crane onto a ship.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

Vehicles are placed on metal racks that are lifted by crane and stored in the hold of cargo ships.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

Maybe it’s the sound of this breath that makes him take his own, or maybe it’s the image of the crane in his head, but something inside him lets him ask.

From "A Bird Will Soar" by Alison Green Myers

Asked by Chris Rees KC, defending Mears, if Kerr dealt drugs, Crane said he was "not sure".

From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026

Rutgers University statistics professor Harry Crane said around 20% to 40% of the money bet on offshore Polymarket markets comes from inside the U.S.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 11, 2026

That was the site of the country’s worst nuclear power accident and is now called the Crane Clean Energy Center.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

This season Crane took 34 wickets in the County Championship and demonstrated his improvement with the bat by making his first two first-class hundreds.

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

“Sure thing, Jim. That’s it,” said Mr. Crane.

From "Out of Darkness" by Ashley Hope Pérez

Gantry cranes were washed away, silt and boulders jammed the headworks, and floodwaters entered the power house, knocking the plant offline.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026

“How many cranes are there in downtown Los Angeles today?”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2026

The cranes, which dominate the east Belfast skyline, will have their engines overhauled and other key components replaced.

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026

By contrast, logistics is pretty mundane; the big contractors don’t pine for contracts to build oiler ships, cranes, or commissaries.

From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2026

Members still place thousands of paper cranes beneath Sadako’s statue on August 6—Peace Day.

From "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes" by Eleanor Coerr

Shortly after, at a small neighborhood restaurant I raced down a 30 mph road to get to, nearly every patron craned their necks to look.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

A swarm of tourists craned their necks to see the instalment of the cross's upper arm, visible amid the scaffolding and workers who put finishing touches from their harnesses.

From Barron's ● Feb. 20, 2026

The waste was then craned into skips and taken to landfill, the utility firm added.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2025

I secretly loved how the flower craned skyward, never quick to diminish its presence, what I considered its sharp elegance.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 14, 2024

I craned my neck to peer deeper into the truck’s cab.

From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows

Some hopped on benches craning their necks for a better view while others FaceTimed friends so they could watch.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

On July 14, it shared a painting depicting a young 19th-century couple in a covered wagon, craning over an infant, the plains and mountains extending into the distance behind them.

From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2025

"He captures Dylan's craning stance and the way he used hair and sunglasses as a mask, the insistent buzz and keen of his speaking and singing voice and the odd, touchy, insularity."

From BBC ● Dec. 11, 2024

You should position yourself so that you’re not craning your neck upward or to the side.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 22, 2023

Our cabby was craning out of his window with a furious, purple expression.

From "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath

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Related Words

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