Crank definition

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.

Use the crank on the motorcycle and go for a ride.
The act of converting power into motion, by turning a crankshaft.

Yes, a crank was all it needed to start.
Any bend, turn, or winding, as of a passage.

So many turning cranks these have, so many crooks. - Spenser.
An ill-tempered or nasty person

Billy-Bob is a nasty, old crank! He chased my cat away.
methamphetamine.

Danny got abscesses from shooting all that bathtub crank.
A person who is considered strange to others. They may do strange things, or be a crank by nature.

John is a crank because he talks to himself.
A twist or turn in speech; a conceit consisting in a change of the form or meaning of a word.

Quips, and cranks, and wanton wiles. - Milton.
A ship which, because of insufficient or poorly stowed ballast or cargo, is in danger of overturning

To turn a crank.

Crank it up!

He's been cranking all day and yet it refuses to crank.
To cause to spin via other means, as though turned by a crank.

I turn the key and crank the engine; yet it doesn't turn over
To act in a cranky manner; to behave unreasonably and irritably.

Quit cranking about your spilt milk!
To produce or present a desired object.

Crank out the beer!
To run with a winding course; to double; to crook; to wind and turn.

See how this river comes me cranking in. - Shakespeare