Crank Meaning
/ˈkɹæŋk/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjHard; difficult.
adjStrange; weird; odd.
Sentence Examples
Hey! I don't want any crank calls - not at this hour.
It will take you a whole lifetime to understand a crank like him.
These crank shafts are precision balanced for smooth high revving engines.
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CEFR Practice Quiz
He turned the rusty ____ to open the heavy garage door.
Word Origin & History
From Dutch or Low German krank, ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *krank, from Proto-Germanic *krangaz, *krankaz (“bent; weak”). Cognate with Scots crank, krank, German krank (“sick”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"This ship is so crank and walty
I fear our grave she will be!"
— 1863, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Phantom Ship:
"The stowage was clumsily done, and the vessel consequently crank."
— 1833, Edgar Allan Poe, MS. Found in a Bottle:
"He who was a little before bedred[…]was now cranke and lustie."
— 1548, Nicolas Udall, The first tome or volume of the Paraphrase of Erasmus vpon the newe testamente:
"If you strong electioners did not think you were among the elect, you would not be so crank about it."
— 1856, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Dred, A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp:
"Violent of temper; subject to sudden cranks."
— 1858–1865, Thomas Carlyle, History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Called Frederick the Great, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
He turned the rusty ____ to open the heavy garage door.