/ kræŋk; NAmE / noun , verb
■ noun
1.
( disapproving ) a person with ideas that other people find strange
SYN eccentric :
Vegetarians are no longer dismissed as cranks.
2.
( NAmE ) a person who easily gets angry or annoyed
3.
a bar and handle in the shape of an L that you pull or turn to produce movement in a machine, etc.
—picture at bicycle
■ verb
[ vn ] crank sth (up) to make sth turn or move by using a crank :
to crank an engine
( figurative )
He has a limited time to crank the reforms into action.
•
PHRASAL VERBS
- crank sth out
- crank sth up
••
WORD ORIGIN
noun sense 3 and verb Old English cranc (recorded in crancstæf , denoting a weaver's implement), related to crincan bend, yield, fall in battle , of Germanic origin .