Crane Meaning
/kɹeɪn/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounAny bird of the family Gruidae, large birds with long legs and a long neck which is extended during flight.
nounArdea herodias, the great blue heron.
Sentence Examples
On top of the statue, Sadako is holding a golden crane over her head.
"I can't even make a crane," she said to herself.
It was the last crane she ever made.
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The construction crew used a massive ____ to lift steel beams.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English crane, from Old English cran (“crane”), from Proto-West Germanic *kran, *kranō, from Proto-Germanic *kranô (“crane”), from Proto-Indo-European *gerh₂- (“to cry hoarsely”). Cognate with Scots cran (“crane”), Dutch kraan (“crane”), German Low German Kroon (“crane”), German Kran (“crane”). The mechanical devices are named from their likeness to the bird.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Large cranes were virtually non-existent in the areas I worked with this truck, so we jacked everything on and off[.]"
— 2000, Bob Foster, Birdum or Bust!, Henley Beach, SA: Seaview Press, page 111:
"and my bachelor's hearth is imbedded where by much craning of head and neck I can catch sight of a sycamore in the Square garden,"
— 1879, George Eliot, Impressions of Theophrastus Such:
"Didcot had one definite pleasure. We knew that little boys would be going up and down the platform singing out, "Banbury cakes! Banbury cakes!" And mother would crane out and buy some, just to encourage the crew."
— 1948 November and December, “By Broad Gauge to Cornwall”, in Railway Magazine, page 357:
"I'm gonna be a star and people will crane necks
To get a glimpse of me and see if I am having sex"
— 2008, Rivers Cuomo, “Troublemaker”, in Weezer (Red Album), performed by Weezer:
"What engines, what instruments are used in craning up a soul, sunk below the centre, to the highest heavens."
— 1693, William Bates, Sermons preach'd on Several Occasions:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
The construction crew used a massive ____ to lift steel beams.