crank handle
- noun
:
manivela
- After a few attempts, the crank handle finally clicked into place, allowing the device to operate smoothly.
Examples
-
I remember watching the painted red crank handle of the egg beater come around and thinking, "This time round it will touch the dough."
Blog text (24) -
Janek drew some fuel up with the pump, grasped the crank handle, and slowly, lethargically, ponderously, like a tortoise, the guts of the engine started to turn over.
Fiction book (2000) -
She turned the crank handle to start the old engine, and it roared to life.
-
He grasped the crank handle firmly as he began to lift the heavy machinery.
Synonyms
A metal crank you put into an engine and turn by hand to make it run
A spare handle used to turn a machine by hand
How Easy
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun 'crank handle' is directly compositional: it denotes a handle associated with a crank used to turn machinery. A B1 learner who knows 'crank' (a hand-operated turning device) and 'handle' (a part to be held) can readily infer this meaning because it follows the common noun+noun instrument/part pattern.
Etymology
Crank handle is a name from old machines: you fit a handle onto a crank and turn it by hand to make an engine or machine start. Because people actually turned this handle to get the machine going, the term means the simple tool used 'to start' or 'operate' equipment.