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cran

cran

1 9.9
A measure for fresh herring equal to about 170 liters
  • noun
  • Archaic
: cran
  • I don't feel drunk, but I had, like, three vodka crans in there.

Examples

  • Would you get me a vodka cran, sweetheart?

  • So, sending over a vodka-cran, yeah, it just shows lack of appreciation for our situation tonight, so...

  • How about you go get that vodka cran like I said, baby.

  • >> Soda water with a splash of cran would be great.

  • I can get wasted on club soda and cran.

  • Vodka OJ, vodka cran, and was that a Dewars with water or soda?

    Fiction book (1998)
  • No, no, you bring Budd a vodka cran and for you Craig?

  • A fisherman measured his catch in crans, noting that he had about 30 fish.

  • To comply with the fishing regulations, he had to report the amount of herring in crans.

  • The market sells fresh herring by the cran, making it easy to calculate the total volume.

Surface Forms

cran singular
crans plural

Etymology

Cran is a traditional sea measure for herring, about 37.5 gallons. One popular way to remember it is to imagine a crane lifting 'one load' of fish into a ship, because a cran was the typical amount from a single lift or catch.