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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Crank \Crank\ (kr[a^][ng]k), adjective [AS. cranc weak; akin to Icel. krangr, D. & G. krank sick, weak (cf. D. krengen to careen). Cf. {Crank}, noun]
1. Sick; infirm. [Prov. Eng.]
2. (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.
3. Full of spirit; brisk; lively; sprightly; overconfident; opinionated.
He who was, a little before, bedrid, . . . was now crank and lusty. --Udall.
If you strong electioners did not think you were among the elect, you would not be so crank about it. --Mrs. Stowe.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Crank \Crank\ (kr[a^][ng]k), noun [OE. cranke; akin to E. cringe, cringle, crinkle, and to crank, adjective, the root meaning, probably, ''to turn, twist.'' See {Cringe}.]
1. (Mach.) A bent portion of an axle, or shaft, or an arm keyed at right angles to the end of a shaft, by which motion is imparted to or received from it; also used to change circular into reciprocating motion, or reciprocating into circular motion. See {Bell crank}.
2. Any bend, turn, or winding, as of a passage.
So many turning cranks these have, so many crooks. --Spenser.
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.
4. A twist or turn of the mind; caprice; whim; crotchet; also, a fit of temper or passion. [Prov. Eng.]
Violent of temper; subject to sudden cranks. --Carlyle.
5. A person full of crotchets; one given to fantastic or impracticable projects; one whose judgment is perverted in respect to a particular matter. [Colloq.]
6. A sick person; an invalid. [Obs.]
Thou art a counterfeit crank, a cheater. --Burton.
{Crank axle} (Mach.), a driving axle formed with a crank or cranks, as in some kinds of locomotives.
{Crank pin} (Mach.), the cylindrical piece which forms the handle, or to which the connecting rod is attached, at the end of a crank, or between the arms of a double crank.
{Crank shaft}, a shaft bent into a crank, or having a crank fastened to it, by which it drives or is driven.
{Crank wheel}, a wheel acting as a crank, or having a wrist to which a connecting rod is attached.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Crank \Crank\, verb (used without an object) [See {Crank}, noun] To run with a winding course; to double; to crook; to wind and turn.
See how this river comes me cranking in. --Shak.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
crank
adjective: (used of boats) inclined to heel over easily under sail [syn: {cranky}, {tender}, {tippy}]
noun
1: a bad-tempered person [syn: {grouch}, {grump}, {churl}, {crosspatch}]
2: a whimsically eccentric person [syn: {crackpot}, {nut}, {nut case}, {nutcase}, {fruitcake}, {screwball}]
3: amphetamine used in the form of a crystalline hydrochloride; used as a stimulant to the nervous system and as an appetite suppressant [syn: {methamphetamine}, {methamphetamine hydrochloride}, {Methedrine}, {meth}, {deoxyephedrine}, {chalk}, {chicken feed}, {glass}, {ice}, {shabu}, {trash}]
4: a hand tool consisting of a rotating shaft with parallel handle [syn: {starter}]
verb
1: travel along a zigzag path; "The river zigzags through the countryside" [syn: {zigzag}]
2: start by cranking; "crank up the engine" [syn: {crank up}]
3: rotate with a crank [syn: {crank up}]
4: fasten with a crank
5: bend into the shape of a crank
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
257 Moby Thesaurus words for "crank": L, Tartar, abnormal, aficionado, alien, angle, angle off, anomalous, apex, bar, beam, bear, bee, bellyacher, bend, bifurcate, bifurcation, bight, boom, boutade, brainstorm, branch, branks, buff, bug, cant, cant hook, capriccio, caprice, case, character, chevron, circle, circulate, circumrotate, circumvolute, claw bar, coin, complainant, complainer, conceit, corner, crab, crackbrain, crackpot, crank in, crankish, cranky, craze, crazy idea, croaker, crook, crosspatch, crotchet, crotchety, crow, crowbar, cucking stool, cuckoo, deflection, deviant, deviative, devotee, different, ding-a-ling, divergent, dogleg, dotty, dragon, draw in, draw taut, ducking stool, eccentric, elbow, ell, energumen, enthusiast, erratic, exceptional, fad, fan, fanatic, fanatico, fancy, fantastic notion, fantasy, faultfinder, feist, fey, finger pillory, fire-eater, flake, flaky, flimflam, fool notion, fork, freak, freakish, freakish inspiration, frondeur, funny, furcate, furcation, fury, go around, go round, griper, grizzly bear, grouch, grouser, growler, grumbler, gyrate, gyre, handspike, harebrain, harebrained idea, hermit, hobo, hook, hothead, hotspur, humor, idiocratic, idiosyncratic, infatuate, inflection, iron crow, irregular, jimmy, kicker, kink, kinky, knee, kook, kooky, kvetch, lever, limb, lone wolf, loner, lunatic, lunatic fringe, maggot, maggoty, malcontent, marlinespike, maverick, megrim, meshuggenah, monomaniac, murmurer, mutterer, natural, nonconformist, nook, notion, nut, nutty, odd, odd fellow, oddball, oddity, original, outrigger, outsider, pariah, passing fancy, peavey, peculiar, pedal, pillory, pinch bar, pirouette, pivot, point, prize, pry, pull in, queer, queer duck, queer fish, queer specimen, querulous person, quirk, quirky, quoin, rara avis, reactionary, reactionist, rebel, recluse, reel, reel in, revolve, ripping bar, rotate, round, screw, screwball, screwy, singular, solitary, sorehead, sourpuss, spar, spin, stocks, strange, strange duck, swerve, swing, swivel, tackle, tauten, tighten, toy, tramp, treadle, treadmill, trebuchet, triangle, triangles, trim, turn, turn a pirouette, turn around, turn round, twist, twisted, type, ugly customer, unconventional, unnatural, vagary, veer, vertex, wacky, wamble, weirdo, wheel, whim, whim-wham, whimsical, whimsy, whiner, whipping post, winch, wind, wind in, windlass, wooden horse, wrecking bar, zag, zealot, zig, zigzag
From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) [jargon]:
crank vt. [from automotive slang] Verb used to describe the performance of a machine, especially sustained performance. "This box cranks (or, cranks at) about 6 megaflops, with a burst mode of twice that on vectorized operations."
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:
crank (Automotive slang) Verb used to describe the performance of a machine, especially sustained performance. "This box cranks (or, cranks at) about 6 megaflops, with a burst mode of twice that on vectorised operations." [{Jargon File}] (1994-12-01)
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