CRANK

Crank

A crank is an arm attached at right angles to a rotating shaft by which reciprocating motion is imparted to or received from the shaft. It is used to convert circular motion into reciprocating motion, or vice-versa. The arm may be a bent portion of the shaft, or a separate arm or disk attached to it. Attached to the end of the crank by a pivot is a rod, usually called a connecting rod. The end of the rod attached to the crank moves in a circular motion, while the other end is usually constrained to move in a linear sliding motion.

The above text is a snippet from Wikipedia: Crank (mechanism)
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

crank

Noun

  1. 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.
  2. The act of converting power into motion, by turning a crankshaft.
    Yes, a crank was all it needed to start.
  3. Any bend, turn, or winding, as of a passage.
  4. An ill-tempered or nasty person
    Billy-Bob is a nasty old crank! He chased my cat away.
  5. A twist or turn of the mind; caprice; whim; crotchet; also, a fit of temper or passion.
  6. 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.
  7. An advocate of a pseudoscience movement.
    That crank next door thinks he's created cold fusion in his garage.
  8. methamphetamine.
    Danny got abscesses from shooting all that bathtub crank.
  9. A twist or turn in speech; a conceit consisting in a change of the form or meaning of a word.
  10. A sick person; an invalid.
  11. penis.

Verb

  1. To turn by means of a crank.
    Motorists had to crank their engine by hand.
  2. To turn a crank.
    He's been cranking all day and yet it refuses to crank.
  3. To turn.
    He's been cranking all day and yet it refuses to crank.
  4. 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!
  5. To act in a cranky manner; to behave unreasonably and irritably, especially through complaining.
    Quit cranking about your spilt milk!
  6. To be running at a high level of output or effort.
    By one hour into the shift, the boys were really cranking.
  7. To run with a winding course; to double; to crook; to wind and turn.

Adjective

  1. strange, weird, odd
  2. sick; unwell; infirm
  3. Liable to capsize because of poorly stowed cargo or insufficient ballast
  4. Full of spirit; brisk; lively; sprightly; overconfident; opinionated.


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: crank
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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