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Webster's Dictionary (1865)

3 entries under this word

Crank

Crănk, n.

noun

n. [Cf. D. kring, L. Ger. krink, Icel. kringr, circle, Sw. kring, round about.]

Sense 1. (Mach.) A bend in, or a bent portion of, an axis, serving as a handle for communicating circular motion, as the 1, single crank; 2, double crank; 3, bell-crank. crank of a grindstone; or to change circular into reciprocating motion, as in a saw-mill; or reciprocating into circular motion, as in a steam-engine. See also BELL-CRANK.

Sense 2. Any bend, turn, or winding, as of a passage.

I send it [food] through the rivers of your blood, And through the cranks and offices of man; The strongest nerves, and small inferior veins, From me receive that natural competency Whereby they live. Shak.

Sense 3. A twist or turn in speech; a conceit consisting in a change of the form or meaning of a word.

Quips, and cranks, and wanton wiles. Milton.

Sense 4. A cheat or impostor. [Obs.]

Thou art a counterfeit crank, a cheater. Burton.

Three views of a mechanical linkage assembly, including paired upright jointed parts and a triangular connecting plate with circular pivot holes.

Crănk, a.

adjective

a. [A-S. cranc, weak, Icel. kränkr, D. & Ger. krank, sick, weak.]

  1. (Naut.) Liable to careen or be overset, as a ship when she is too narrow, or has not sufficient ballast, or is loaded too high, to carry full sail.
  2. Full of spirit; brisk; lively.

As cockle on his dunghill crowing crank. Spencer.

Crănk, v. i.

verbintransitive

v. i. Same as CRANKLE.