crank[noun]Synonyms: caprice, bee, boutade, conceit, crotchet, fancy, freak, maggot, notion, vagary, crackpot, crackbrain, cuckoo, ding-a-ling, harebrain, kook, lunatic, nut, screwball, grouch, bellyacher, crab, crosspatch, faultfinder, griper, grouser, growler, grumbler, sourpuss
Related Words: freak [TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲
I. crank1 /kræŋk/
noun [countable][
Language: Old English;
Origin: cranc]
1. a handle on a piece of equipment, that you can turn in order to move something
2. informal someone who has unusual ideas and behaves strangely:
Zoff was originally dismissed as a crank, but his theories later became very influential.3. crank call/letter a telephone call or letter in which someone says annoying things
4. American English informal someone who easily gets angry or annoyed with people
[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲
II. crank2 (
also crank up)
verb [transitive] to make something move by turning a crank:
Try cranking the engine.crank something ↔ out phrasal verb to produce a lot of something very quickly:
He cranked out three novels last year.crank something ↔ up phrasal verb informal to make the sound of something, especially music, louder:
We cranked up the volume. [TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲