: a bent part of an axle or shaft or an arm keyed at right angles to the end of a shaft by which circular motion is imparted to or received from the shaft or by which reciprocating motion is changed into circular motion or vice versa
Noun To open the car window, turn the crank on the door. He was dismissed as a crank until his article was published. Most people think she's just a harmless crank. Verb He cranked the temperature to 75 degrees. Crank the engine to see if it will start.
Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle English cranke, from Old English cranc- (as in crancstæf, a weaving instrument); probably akin to Middle High German krank weak, sick — more at cringe