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Crank vs Cran - What's the difference?

crank | cran |

In obsolete|lang=en terms the difference between crank and cran

is that crank is (obsolete) a sick person; an invalid while cran is (obsolete) a measure of herrings, either imprecise or sometimes legally specified; also rarely a barrel made to hold such a measure.

As nouns the difference between crank and cran

is that crank is a bent piece of an axle or shaft, or an attached arm perpendicular, or nearly so, to the end of a shaft or wheel, used to impart a rotation to a wheel or other mechanical device; also used to change circular into reciprocating motion, or reciprocating into circular motion while cran is (obsolete) a measure of herrings, either imprecise or sometimes legally specified; also rarely a barrel made to hold such a measure or cran can be (music) an embellishment played on the lowest note of a chanter of a bagpipe, consisting of a series of grace notes produced by rapid sequential lifting of the fingers of the lower hand.

As an adjective crank

is (slang) strange, weird, odd.

As a verb crank

is to turn by means of a crank .

crank

English

Adjective

(er)
  • (slang) strange, weird, odd
  • sick; unwell; infirm
  • (nautical, of a ship) Liable to capsize because of poorly stowed cargo or insufficient ballast
  • Full of spirit; brisk; lively; sprightly; overconfident; opinionated.
  • * Udall
    • He who was, a little before, bedrid, was now crank and lusty.
  • * Mrs. Stowe
    • If you strong electioners did not think you were among the elect, you would not be so crank about it.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A bent piece of an axle or shaft, or an attached arm perpendicular, or nearly so, to the end of a shaft or wheel, used to impart a rotation to a wheel or other mechanical device; also used to change circular into reciprocating motion, or reciprocating into circular motion.(rfex)
  • The act of converting power into motion, by turning a crankshaft.
    • Yes, a crank was all it needed to start .
  • (archaic) Any bend, turn, or winding, as of a passage.
  • * (rfdate) Spenser:
    • So many turning cranks these have, so many crooks.
  • (informal) An ill-tempered or nasty person
    • Billy-Bob is a nasty old crank ! He chased my cat away.
  • A twist or turn of the mind; caprice; whim; crotchet; also, a fit of temper or passion.
  • * Carlyle
    • Violent of temper; subject to sudden cranks .
  • (informal, British, dated in US) A person who is considered strange or odd by others. They may behave in unconventional ways.
    • John is a crank because he talks to himself .
  • * 1882 January 14, in Pall Mall Gazette :
    • Persons whom the Americans since Guiteau's trial have begun to designate as ‘cranks’ —that is to say, persons of disordered mind, in whom the itch of notoriety supplies the lack of any higher ambition.
  • (informal) An advocate of a pseudoscience movement.
    • That crank next door thinks he's created cold fusion in his garage.
  • (US, slang) methamphetamine.
    • Danny got abscesses from shooting all that bathtub crank .
  • (rare) A twist or turn in speech; a conceit consisting in a change of the form or meaning of a word.
  • * (rfdate) Milton:
    • Quips, and cranks , and wanton wiles.
  • (obsolete) A sick person; an invalid.
  • * Burton
    • Thou art a counterfeit crank , a cheater.
  • (slang) penis.
  • * 2013 , Reggie Chesterfield, Scoundrel (page 57)
    • It was going to be hard not to blow with a girl like her sucking on his crank .

    Synonyms

    * See also .

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To turn by means of a crank .
    • Motorists had to crank their engine by hand.
  • To turn a crank .
    • He's been cranking all day and yet it refuses to crank.
  • To turn.
    • He's been cranking all day and yet it refuses to crank .
  • To cause to spin via other means, as though turned by a crank.
    • I turn the key and crank the engine; yet it doesn't turn over
    Crank it up!
  • To act in a cranky manner; to behave unreasonably and irritably, especially through complaining.
    • Quit cranking about your spilt milk!
  • To be running at a high level of output or effort.
    • By one hour into the shift, the boys were really cranking .
  • *
  • *
  • *
  • (dated) To run with a winding course; to double; to crook; to wind and turn.
  • * (rfdate) :
    • See how this river comes me cranking in.

    Derived terms

    * crank axle * crank call * crankcase * crank out * crankpin * crank pin * crank shaft * crankstart * crank start * crank up * crank wheel * cranky * turn someone's crank

    cran

    English

    Etymology 1

    Gaelic.

    Alternative forms

    * crane

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • (obsolete) a measure of herrings, either imprecise or sometimes legally specified; also rarely a barrel made to hold such a measure
  • * 1800 Dec., Sir Richard Phillips, The Monthly magazine , Volume 10, No. 66, page 486:
    • Very flattering indeed has been the success of the fishermen; and many boats have come in loaded, averaging thirty or forty crans' each (every '''cran''' estimated at 1,000 herrings), and disposed of their cargoes at nine shillings per ' cran ; but the price has been since raised to fifteen shillings.
  • * 1960 , Singing the Fishing :
    • And fish the knolls on the North Sea Holes
    And try your luck at the North Shields Gut
    With a catch of a hundred cran .
    *

    Etymology 2

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (music) An embellishment played on the lowest note of a chanter of a bagpipe, consisting of a series of grace notes produced by rapid sequential lifting of the fingers of the lower hand.

    • Anagrams

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