资料来源 : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

   3. 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.

   4. A twist or turn of the mind; caprice; whim; crotchet;
      also, a fit of temper or passion. [Prov. Eng.]

            Violent of temper; subject to sudden cranks.
                                                  --Carlyle.

   5. A person full of crotchets; one given to fantastic or
      impracticable projects; one whose judgment is perverted in
      respect to a particular matter. [Colloq.]

   6. A sick person; an invalid. [Obs.]

            Thou art a counterfeit crank, a cheater. --Burton.

   {Crank axle} (Mach.), a driving axle formed with a crank or
      cranks, as in some kinds of locomotives.

   {Crank pin} (Mach.), the cylindrical piece which forms the
      handle, or to which the connecting rod is attached, at the
      end of a crank, or between the arms of a double crank.

   {Crank shaft}, a shaft bent into a crank, or having a crank
      fastened to it, by which it drives or is driven.

   {Crank wheel}, a wheel acting as a crank, or having a wrist
      to which a connecting rod is attached.