How to Use crank in a Sentence

crank

1 of 2 noun
Definition of cranknext
Synonyms for cranknext
  • He was dismissed as a crank until his article was published.
  • Hold down the lid with one hand and turn the crank with the other hand.
    — Belle Duchene, Better Homes & Gardens, 8 Feb. 2024
  • Not even close, since the peak of 502 hp is dyno-proven at the wheels, not at the crank.
    — Michael Teo Van Runkle, Ars Technica, 17 Nov. 2023
  • Not all titles use the crank, but the ones that do stand out.
    — Julian Chokkattu, Wired, 22 July 2021
  • Reel in a crank, or two, so the float stands up and the bait is just off the bottom.
    — cleveland, 9 July 2020
  • Just place your washed goods in the spinner, lock the lid, and pull the hand crank to get things going.
    — Toni Sutton, Peoplemag, 6 Mar. 2023
  • Turn a crank and the man groaned and waved one arm over his mouth while the animal growled.
    — Ron Charles, Washington Post, 6 June 2023
  • To open and close the umbrella, simply use the hand crank.
    — Samantha Jones, Better Homes & Gardens, 5 June 2023
  • From the very top, the cast cranks up the energy to a 10, leaving them nowhere to go from there.
    — Ross Raihala, Twin Cities, 7 Feb. 2024
  • Crew turns the crank, spinning the comb at great speeds causing the honey to fall out.
    — Sam Burros, Peoplemag, 28 Aug. 2023
  • Try for walleye by trolling crank baits over flats that are 25 feet deep.
    — Flip Putthoff, Arkansas Online, 3 Jan. 2023
  • Mario can even jump his way across the screen, thanks to a clever hand-crank assembly.
    — Jonathan Bender, Popular Mechanics, 13 Oct. 2022
  • Many of the top perch crank baits, jigs and ice fishing lures are made to look like a smaller perch.
    — Jordan Rodriguez, Idaho Statesman, 31 Jan. 2024
  • But Bob hid the crank so that Desmond would be forced to play on a regular-sized goal.
    — Joel Lorenzi, The Indianapolis Star, 17 Feb. 2022
  • Cons The design of the motor and crank is a bit cumbersome.
    — Laura Denby, Peoplemag, 9 Oct. 2023
  • Look for daytime highs in the upper 50s along the coastline as a light sea breeze cranks up.
    — Gerry Díaz, San Francisco Chronicle, 16 Mar. 2023
  • Casement: These windows have a hinge on the side and open and close using a hand crank.
    — Maria Masters, Better Homes & Gardens, 16 Aug. 2021
  • The crank was also simple to use and worked smoothly with each roll.
    — Michelle Love, Better Homes & Gardens, 14 Sep. 2023
  • Casement windows are hinged on the side and open outward to the left or right with a crank handle.
    — Bridget Degnan, Better Homes & Gardens, 12 Feb. 2023
  • The hand crank handle is easy to move, without the need to constantly grip or squeeze.
    — Molly Allen, Southern Living, 7 Dec. 2023
  • At daybreak, the cranks pull the ring back up to the surface to soak up sunlight and carbon dioxide.
    — IEEE Spectrum, 21 Dec. 2023
  • Once the booms, hand cranks, lines and lights were in place, square nets were lowered into Lake Michigan.
    — Paul A. Smith, Journal Sentinel, 2 Apr. 2023
  • But as the temperature dial cranks up, the threats are shared.
    — The Arizona Republic, 31 July 2023
  • The spider, Dzhos soon saw, was a box that contained a hand crank and some electrical wires.
    — Joshua Yaffa, The New Yorker, 30 Jan. 2023
  • Finish with a drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkling of flaky sea salt and some cranks of black pepper.
    — Odette Williams, WSJ, 17 Feb. 2023
  • Using the hand crank, a guard could rotate them to let an inmate into an open cell.
    — Domenica Bongiovanni, The Indianapolis Star, 2 Aug. 2022
  • Woolery now is known mostly for being a right-wing crank.
    — Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 27 June 2023
  • In another time, in another place, the call to the police in Kyiv might have been dismissed as a crank.
    — Marc Santora, New York Times, 9 Feb. 2023
  • The 13-foot-wide market umbrella opens with a crank and has a double-sided canopy with steel ribs.
    — Rachel Klein, Popular Mechanics, 29 June 2022
  • Twelve months out from Election Day, the Presidential campaign has inescapably begun with the slow, ominous, upward crank of a roller coaster.
    — Benjamin Wallace-Wells, The New Yorker, 12 Nov. 2023
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crank

2 of 2 verb
  • Williams must crank up his right knee just to take a step.
    — Bob McManaman, The Arizona Republic, 29 Dec. 2022
  • Pile the family into the car, crank up the tunes and take the scenic route.
    — Cameron Jenkins, Good Housekeeping, 29 Apr. 2022
  • The sound off the racquet of Ben Shelton’s flat serve is a thwack cranked to eleven.
    — Gerald Marzorati, The New Yorker, 30 Aug. 2023
  • As rain winds down and a cold front slides through, winds will crank late tonight.
    — Ian Livingston, Washington Post, 25 Jan. 2023
  • So crank up those speakers and get ready to sing along.
    — Jennifer Aldrich, Country Living, 28 Oct. 2022
  • Yet that hasn’t swayed the monks to crank up production.
    — Tori Latham, Robb Report, 6 Apr. 2023
  • Lisa gets into the tanning bed and instructs him to crank the heat up.
    — Jessica Wang, EW.com, 10 Feb. 2024
  • Use it: Pick up a grinder and crank over popcorn for a savory snack.
    — Becca Miller, Women's Health, 1 Aug. 2023
  • Throw it beyond the lighted area and crank it through the lights just fast enough to make the paddle tail thump.
    — Frank Sargeant, al, 18 July 2021
  • So crank the tunes, pop open a bottle of vino, and marinate in the swirling, dervish of chaos.
    — Tim Moffatt, EW.com, 23 Nov. 2022
  • Some think the answer is to crank up the vacuum, so the pipes slurp gas at a higher rate.
    — Eric Boodman, STAT, 18 Apr. 2023
  • Heatwaves have swept the country, forcing many of us to go inside and crank the AC.
    — Jasmine Browley, Essence, 14 Sep. 2023
  • Put them in a big pot, cover with an inch of cold water, then crank the heat to bring to a simmer. 3.
    — Ali Slagle, Los Angeles Times, 16 Mar. 2023
  • Turn up the thermostat one degree a day and see who’s willing to crank it up the next day.
    — Avery Elizabeth Hurt, National Geographic, 3 Aug. 2020
  • For his part, Cruise has once again cranked the superspy dial up to 11.
    — Manohla Dargis, New York Times, 11 July 2023
  • On the flipside don’t crank up the pressure on yourself during a hunt.
    — Alex Robinson, Outdoor Life, 12 Oct. 2023
  • Skies should remain mostly sunny Wednesday as the heat starts to crank up again with highs in the low to mid-90s.
    — Dan Stillman, Washington Post, 9 July 2023
  • To make its troubled PC port playable at all, Sony cranked the settings down to the bare minimum.
    — Sean Hollister, The Verge, 13 July 2023
  • But Boston bats cranked the former Red Sox starter for all six of those runs in just five innings.
    — Julian McWilliams, BostonGlobe.com, 13 Aug. 2023
  • Every time the movie goes to commercial, the volume gets cranked up way too loud.
    — Ben Cohen, WSJ, 10 Nov. 2023
  • Rain chances will crank up by Wednesday and Thursday with odds rising up to 60%.
    — Joe Mario Pedersen, Orlando Sentinel, 11 Oct. 2022
  • George’s ears were ruined by speakers cranked, over many years.
    — Lars Brandle, Billboard, 19 Apr. 2023
  • So crank up some Sinatra, invite over the Kathy to your Susan, and get cooking!
    — Jessica Radloff, Glamour, 16 Nov. 2023
  • Once your sauna is up and running, there’s nothing left to do but crank it up, invite some friends over, and sweat it out.
    — Megan Michelson, Outside Online, 14 Dec. 2019
  • On Thanksgiving Day, a storm will start to crank up over portions of the central and southern U.S.
    — Doyle Rice, USA TODAY, 21 Nov. 2022
  • Many lower-price earbuds seem to crank up the bass as much as possible.
    — Geoffrey Morrison, wsj.com, 31 Oct. 2023
  • Before the injury, Marcus Semien cranked a solo home run off Boyd's second pitch of the game.
    — Evan Petzold, Detroit Free Press, 27 June 2023
  • For manual snakes, crank the handle clockwise to hook the clog and continue running the snake down the drain.
    — Brittany Anas, House Beautiful, 29 July 2023
  • His wife, Andrea, brings a hand washer on road trips, then cranks up a hair dryer if his clothes don’t air dry overnight.
    — Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 Mar. 2024
  • Osborne pulled up, opened the sunroof, cranked up the sound-projecting speakers and gave them a show to remember.
    — Taiia Smart Young, Essence, 14 Feb. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'crank.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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