crank
verb
[ kraŋk ]
• turn the crankshaft of (an internal combustion engine) in order to start the engine.
• "the starter motor struggled to crank the engine"
Similar:
start,
turn (over),
get going,
• give a bend to (a shaft, bar, etc.).
• "I've cranked the shaft of the gear lever to get it further away from the dashboard"
• inject a narcotic drug.
• "he's been cranking up on smack"
crank
noun
• a part of an axle or shaft bent out at right angles, for converting reciprocal to circular motion and vice versa.
• "a long con rod which acts as a longer lever on the crank"
• the drug methamphetamine.
Origin:
Old English cranc (recorded in crancstæf, denoting a weaver's implement), related to crincan (see cringe).
crank
noun
• an eccentric person, especially one who is obsessed by a particular subject.
• "when he first started to air his views, they labelled him a crank"
Similar:
eccentric,
oddity,
odd fellow,
unorthodox person,
individualist,
nonconformist,
free spirit,
bohemian,
maverick,
deviant,
pervert,
misfit,
hippy,
dropout,
madman/madwoman,
lunatic,
psychotic,
fanatic,
fan,
zealot,
addict,
enthusiast,
devotee,
aficionado,
oddball,
freak,
character,
weirdie,
weirdo,
crackpot,
loony,
nut,
nutcase,
nutjob,
cuckoo,
head case,
sicko,
perv,
fiend,
maniac,
buff,
-head,
a great one for,
one-off,
odd bod,
nutter,
odd/queer fish,
radge,
wacko,
wack,
screwball,
kook,
geek,
jock,
wing nut,
wackadoo,
wackadoodle,
dingbat,
case,
• a fanciful turn of speech.
crank
adjective
• (of a sailing ship) liable to heel over.
Origin:
early 17th century: perhaps from dialect crank ‘weak, shaky’ (compare with cranky or crank1).
