I. crank 1 /kræŋk/ BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: cranc ]
1 . a handle on a piece of equipment, that you can turn in order to move something
2 . informal someone who has unusual ideas and behaves strangely:
Zoff was originally dismissed as a crank, but his theories later became very influential.
3 . crank call/letter a telephone call or letter in which someone says annoying things
4 . American English informal someone who easily gets angry or annoyed with people
II. crank 2 BrE AmE ( also crank up ) verb [transitive]
to make something move by turning a crank:
Try cranking the engine.
crank something ↔ out phrasal verb
to produce a lot of something very quickly:
He cranked out three novels last year.
crank something ↔ up phrasal verb informal
to make the sound of something, especially music, louder:
We cranked up the volume.