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crank1

Syllabification: (crank)
Pronunciation: /kraNGk/
Translate crank | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of crank

verb

[with object]
  • 1turn the crankshaft of (an internal combustion engine), typically in order to start the engine.
  • turn (a handle), typically in order to start an engine.
  • (crank something up) informal increase the intensity of something:he cranked up the foghorn to full volume
  • (crank something out) informal produce something regularly and routinely:an army of researchers cranked out worthy studies
  • 2 (usually as adjective cranked) give a bend to (a shaft, bar, etc.).

noun

  • 1a part of an axle or shaft bent out at right angles, for converting reciprocal to circular motion and vice versa.
  • 2 informal the drug methamphetamine.

Origin:

Old English cranc (recorded in crancstæf, denoting a weaver's implement), related to crincan (see cringe)

crank in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of crank in the British & World English dictionary

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