crank

  1. Adjective.  (slang) Strange, weird, odd.
  2. Noun.  A bent piece of an axle, or shaft, or an arm attached at right angles to the end of a shaft or wheel, used to impart a circular action to a wheel or other mechanical device and create power; also used to change circular into reciprocating motion, or reciprocating into circular motion.
  3. Noun.  The act of converting power into motion, by turning a crankshaft.
  4. Noun.  Any bend, turn, or winding, as of a passage.
  5. Noun.  (informal) An ill-tempered or nasty person.
  6. Noun.  (US, slang) methamphetamine.
  7. Noun.  (slang, British) A person who is considered strange or odd by others. They may behave in unconventional ways.
  8. Noun.  (rare) A twist or turn in speech; a conceit consisting in a change of the form or meaning of a word.
  9. Noun.  (nautical) A ship which, because of insufficient or poorly stowed ballast or cargo, is in danger of overturning.
  10. Verb.  To turn a '''crank'''.
  11. Verb.  To cause to spin via other means, as though turned by a crank.
  12. Verb.  To act in a cranky manner; to behave unreasonably and irritably, especially through complaining.
  13. Verb.  To produce or present a desired object.
  14. Verb.  (intransitive, dated) To run with a winding course; to double; to crook; to wind and turn.

This is an unmodified, but possibly outdated, definition from Wiktionary and used here under the Creative Commons license. Wiktionary is a great resource. If you like it too, please donate to Wikimedia.

This entry was last updated on RefTopia from its source on 3/20/2012.