Dictionary Definition
Noun
3 amphetamine used in the form of a crystalline
hydrochloride; used as a stimulant to the nervous system and as an
appetite suppressant [syn: methamphetamine,
methamphetamine hydrochloride, Methedrine, meth, deoxyephedrine, chalk, chicken
feed, glass, ice, shabu, trash]
4 a hand tool consisting of a rotating shaft with
parallel handle [syn: starter]
Verb
1 travel along a zigzag path; "The river zigzags
through the countryside" [syn: zigzag]
2 start by cranking; "crank up the engine" [syn:
crank
up]
3 rotate with a crank [syn: crank up]
4 fasten with a crank
5 bend into the shape of a crank
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Pronunciation
- /kræŋk/
- /kr
Extensive Definition
Crank may refer
to:
Mathematics
- Crank conjecture, a term coined by Freeman Dyson to explain congruence patterns in integer partitions.
Mechanics
- Crank, in mechanical engineering, a bent portion of an axle, or shaft, or an arm keyed at right angles to the end of a shaft, by which motion is imparted to or received from it
- Crankshaft, the part of a piston engine which translates reciprocating linear piston motion into rotation
- Crankset, the component of a bicycle drivetrain that converts the reciprocating motion of the rider's legs into rotational motion used to drive the chain, which in turn drives the rear wheel
People
- Anthony Crank, a British television presenter
- Patrick Crank, an American lawyer
- John Crank (1916-2006), a British mathematical physicist
Places
- Crank, Merseyside , a village near Rainford, England
Popular culture
- Crank (film), a 2006 film starring Jason Statham
- Crank! Records, a record label that released albums by indie bands Mineral, The Gloria Record, and Bright Eyes
- Crank (Hoodoo Gurus album), an album by the Australian rock group Hoodoo Gurus
- Crank, an album by Scottish rock band The Almighty
- Crank (novel), a book written by Ellen Hopkins.
Slang
- Crank, a disparaging term for a person who holds unorthodox opinions
- Crank calls, a term for false telephone calls made to strangers
- Crank, a slang term for the powdered form of the recreational drugs methamphetamine or amphetamine
Other
crank in German:
Kurbel
crank in Japanese:
クランク
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
L, Tartar, abnormal, aficionado, alien, angle, angle off, anomalous, apex, bar, beam, bear, bee, bellyacher, bend, bifurcate, bifurcation, bight, boom, boutade, brainstorm, branch, branks, buff, bug, cant, cant hook, capriccio, caprice, case, character, chevron, circle, circulate, circumrotate, circumvolute, claw bar,
coin, complainant, complainer, conceit, corner, crab, crackbrain, crackpot, crank in, crankish, cranky, craze, crazy idea, croaker, crook, crosspatch, crotchet, crotchety, crow, crowbar, cucking stool, cuckoo, deflection, deviant, deviative, devotee, different, ding-a-ling,
divergent, dogleg, dotty, dragon, draw in, draw taut,
ducking stool, eccentric, elbow, ell, energumen, enthusiast, erratic, exceptional, fad, fan, fanatic, fanatico, fancy, fantastic notion, fantasy, faultfinder, feist, fey, finger pillory, fire-eater,
flake, flaky, flimflam, fool notion, fork, freak, freakish, freakish inspiration,
frondeur, funny, furcate, furcation, fury, go around, go round, griper, grizzly bear, grouch, grouser, growler, grumbler, gyrate, gyre, handspike, harebrain, harebrained idea,
hermit, hobo, hook, hothead, hotspur, humor, idiocratic, idiosyncratic, infatuate, inflection, iron crow,
irregular, jimmy, kicker, kink, kinky, knee, kook, kooky, kvetch, lever, limb, lone wolf, loner, lunatic, lunatic fringe,
maggot, maggoty, malcontent, marlinespike, maverick, megrim, meshuggenah, monomaniac, murmurer, mutterer, natural, nonconformist, nook, notion, nut, nutty, odd, odd fellow, oddball, oddity, original, outrigger, outsider, pariah, passing fancy, peavey, peculiar, pedal, pillory, pinch bar, pirouette, pivot, point, prize, pry, pull in, queer, queer duck, queer fish,
queer specimen, querulous person, quirk, quirky, quoin, rara avis, reactionary, reactionist, rebel, recluse, reel, reel in, revolve, ripping bar, rotate, round, screw, screwball, screwy, singular, solitary, sorehead, sourpuss, spar, spin, stocks, strange, strange duck, swerve, swing, swivel, tackle, tauten, tighten, toy, tramp, treadle, treadmill, trebuchet, triangle, triangles, trim, turn, turn a pirouette, turn
around, turn round, twist,
twisted, type, ugly customer, unconventional, unnatural, vagary, veer, vertex, wacky, wamble, weirdo, wheel, whim, whim-wham, whimsical, whimsy, whiner, whipping post, winch, wind, wind in, windlass, wooden horse,
wrecking bar, zag, zealot, zig, zigzag