to crank

Examples

• All

• When assembling the machinery, it is essential to crank the drive belt into the correct shape.

• We're gonna have to crank the gear down by hand.

  Fortress (2012)

• We're gonna crank the gear down.

  Fortress (2012)

• - When I tell you, you start cranking.

  An Unfinished Life (2005)

• Keep cranking.

  Night Swim (2024)

• Her hands were knotted with pain, arm muscles quivering, but she cranked the reel.

  Fiction book (2002)

• Greer has the CD player cranked as he mans the helm in the glow of the pilothouse.

  Fiction book (2002)

• The number-one davit remains in that cranked-in position, an unspoken monument to Murdoch's dedication and heroism.

  Ghosts of the Abyss (2003)

• NYFD Lt. Gordy Pitt strains as he works the handle of an old-time, hand-cranked ice cream maker.

  Fiction book (2002)

• To fit the new engine, we need to crank the metal pipe at an angle.

Synonyms

B

to bend

vsto crank

268 1.0

To make something curved instead of straight

forms a particular angled piece used for mechanical motion

Antonyms

S

to straighten

114 2.5

Make something straight and in the right position

Phrasal Verbs

C

to crank up

• Informal

39 3.8

To increase the level or strength of something, for example volume, production

C

to crank out

• Informal

16 4.0

To make many things quickly, often without much care

C

to crank up

2 4.4

To start a machine by turning a handle

C

to crank up the volume

• Informal

1 3.4

Make the sound louder on a radio, music player, or TV

C

to crank the handle

1 3.7

Turn a handle by hand to make a machine start or work

C

to crank up to eleven

• Slang

8.6

To increase something to its highest or most extreme level

Compounds

C

crank call

• Offensive

4 6.7

A telephone call made to annoy someone as a joke

C

crank arm

• Specialized

1 3.8

A metal arm that connects a bicycle pedal to the chain

C

crank letter

• Offensive

1 8.6

A letter sent anonymously to threaten or upset someone

C

crank handle

4.9

A piece you turn by hand to start an engine or make a machine work

C

crank science

• Slang

9.6

False or not proven ideas that claim to explain how the world works

Surface Forms

Etymology