to crank up
2
4.4
- phrasal verb
- /kræŋk ʌp/
:
arrancar a manivela
- I cranked up the Toro Snow Commander and moved the snow off my driveway, and based on the wind, onto my neighbor's driveway.
- crank up a generator
- crank up the motor
- crank up the car
Examples
-
Stood still without moving a muscle while Neva cranked up the car and revved it like a racer.
Fiction book (1999) -
He turns over the propeller; the engine cranks up.
Fiction book (1996) -
Back at Babs's, Jack is cranking up the outboard motor on his portable deck.
Fiction book (2001) -
He cranked up the heater, and his glasses fogged.
Fiction book (1994) -
After cranking up my fireplace to defrost my shivering cat, I drove around again and saw the Pike trucks still at Taylor and Hobart.
Blog text (2) -
He had to crank up the old generator to get the lights working again.
-
In the cold morning, she cranked up the heater to warm the car before driving.
-
After the storm, we cranked up the engine of the boat to check for any damage.
Synonyms
550
1.0
To make a machine or device start working
61
4.5
To turn a handle to make a machine work
55
3.5
Turn on a computer or other device so it starts working
38
3.0
To make a machine or system begin to work
14
4.4
Turn a watch or toy spring so it starts to work
1
3.7
Turn a handle by hand to make a machine start or work
1
4.5
To start a motorcycle engine by pushing a foot lever
1
4.4
Make a motorcycle engine run by pushing a lever with your foot
Antonyms
How Easy
550
1.0
2
4.4
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense 'to increase or raise' follows directly from combining 'crank' (to rotate a handle, often to increase power or motion) with the particle 'up' (indicating increase). This is a regular verb+particle compositional pattern (similar to 'turn up'), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can reliably infer the meaning.
Etymology
Crank up comes from the old action of turning a handle called a crank to get an engine going. People would literally turn the crank to start a machine, so the phrase now means 'to start' something.