crane

plural cranes

1. Any bird of the family Gruidae, large birds with long legs and a long neck which is extended during flight.

   Aquatic birds of various kinds are very numerous, such as geese, darters (Flotus melanogaster), scissor-bills (Rhynchops nigra), adjutants (Leptoptilos argala), pelicans, cormorants, cranes (Grus antigone, in Burmese gyoja), whimbrels, plovers, and ibises.

   1876, "Burmah" in the Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th ed., Vol. IV, p. 552

2. USdialectalArdea herodias, the great blue heron.
3. A mechanical lifting machine or device, often used for lifting heavy loads for industrial or construction purposes.

   Large cranes were virtually non-existent in the areas I worked with this truck, so we jacked everything on and off[.]

   2000, Bob Foster, Birdum or Bust!, Henley Beach, SA: Seaview Press, page 111

4. An iron arm with horizontal motion, attached to the side or back of a fireplace for supporting kettles etc. over the fire.
5. A siphon, or bent pipe, for drawing liquors out of a cask.
6. nauticalA forked post or projecting bracket to support spars, etc.; generally used in pairs.

present singular third person cranes · participle present craning · participle past craned · past craned

1. ambitransitiveTo extend (one's neck).

   I'm gonna be a star and people will crane necks To get a glimpse of me and see if I am having sex

   2008, Rivers Cuomo, “Troublemaker”, in Weezer (Red Album), performed by Weezer

   2 more examples

   and my bachelor's hearth is imbedded where by much craning of head and neck I can catch sight of a sycamore in the Square garden,

   1879, George Eliot, Impressions of Theophrastus Such

   Didcot had one definite pleasure. We knew that little boys would be going up and down the platform singing out, "Banbury cakes! Banbury cakes!" And mother would crane out and buy some, just to encourage the crew.

   1948 November and December, “By Broad Gauge to Cornwall”, in Railway Magazine, page 357

2. transitiveTo raise or lower with, or as if with, a crane.

   an upstart craned up to the height he has

   1619, Philip Massinger, Nathan Field, The Fatal Dowry

   2 more examples

   What engines, what instruments are used in craning up a soul, sunk below the centre, to the highest heavens.

   1693, William Bates, Sermons preach'd on Several Occasions

   Several overnight weekend possessions were required to crane in new bridges and various other parts of the buildings which were manufactured offsite.

   2024 January 24, Peter Plisner, “Rising to the University challenge”, in RAIL, number 1001, pages 60-61

3. intransitiveTo pull up before a jump.

plural cranes

1. obsoleteThe cranium.

plural cranes

1. alternativeAlternative form of cran (“measure of herrings”).

plural Cranes

1. countableA surname.
2. A placename:
   1. countableuncountableA minor river in Dorset, England, which becomes the Moors River near Verwood; the name is a back-formation from Cranborne.
   2. countableuncountableA minor river in Greater London, England, which joins the Thames between St Margarets and Isleworth.
   3. countableuncountableA town in Perry Township, Martin County, Indiana.
   4. countableuncountableA town in Stone County, Missouri.
   5. countableuncountableA census-designated place in Richland County, Montana.
   6. countableuncountableA census-designated place in Harney County, Oregon.
   7. countableuncountableA city, the county seat of Crane County, Texas.
   8. countableuncountableAn unincorporated community in Bath County, Virginia.
   9. countableuncountableAn unincorporated community in Clallam County, Washington.