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crank

Definition

  • noun: a machine part with a handle that can be turned in a circular motion to move something
  • noun: a bent part of an axle or shaft or an arm keyed at right angles to the end of a shaft by which circular motion is imparted to or received from the shaft or by which reciprocating motion is changed into circular motion or vice versa
  • verb: to move (something) by turning a crank
  • verb: to move with a winding course
  • adjective: made or sent as a joke or to cause harm
  • adjective: of, relating to, or being a 'cranky' or eccentric person
  • used especially in the phrase 'quips and cranks'
  • synonyms: caprice, whim, crotchet

Examples

  • Not many musicians are able to 'crank out' an album in just six months.

  • He 'cranked' [='turned'] the steering wheel quickly to the left.

  • He was dismissed as a 'crank' until his article was published.

Movie clips

Movie quotes

  • (..) this business at age ten. Back then, we didn't have fancy machines. Movies were silent. You turned the projector by hand... with a crank. The whole livelong day! And it was hard, that damn crank. lf you got tired and slowed down a bit... like a shot, whoom, everything burned. So why not teach me? Now that there's no crank and it's dead easy. Because l don't want to. lt's no kind ofjob for you. You're like a slave... and always alone. (..)
    1988 Cinema Paradiso