Meanings
cranny1
plural crannies
- A small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink, as in a wall, or other substance.
Down thro the Cranies of the living Walls / The Crystal Streams descend in murm'ring Falls
1697, Virgil, “The First Book of the Æneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 208, line 2372 more examples
[H]e peep'd into every Cranny; ſometimes he admir'd the Beauty of the Architecture, and the vaſt Solidity of the Maſon's VVork; at other Times he commended the Symmetry and Proportion of the Rooms.
1733, Humphry Polesworth [pseudonym; John Arbuthnot], Alexander Pope, compiler, “Law is a Bottomless Pit. Or, The History of John Bull. […]. The Second Part. Chapter XXII. Of the Great Joy that John Express’d when He Got Possession of Ecclesdown.”, in Miscellanies, 2nd edition, volume II, London: […] Benjamin Motte, […], →OCLC, page 170What a pity they didn’t stop up the chinks and the crannies though, and thrust in a little lint here and there.
1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter II, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 10 - A tool for forming the necks of bottles, etc.
present singular third person crannies · participle present crannying · participle past crannied · past crannied
- intransitiveTo break into, or become full of, crannies.
The ground did cranie everie where and light did pierce to hell.
1567, Arthur Golding: Ovid's Metamophoses; Bk. 2, line 333 - intransitiveTo haunt or enter by crannies.
All tenantless, save to the crannying wind.
1812–1818, Lord Byron, “(please specify |canto=I to IV)”, in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. , London: John Murray,, (please specify the stanza number)
cranny2
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna long narrow depression in a surface
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
cranny · noun, verb
- Proto-Celtic*krīnos“decayed, withered”
- Vulgar Latin*crinō“split, break”
- Medieval Latincrenō“split”
- Old Frenchcran
- Middle Englishcrany
- Englishcranny
From Middle English crany, crani (“cranny”), apparently a diminutive of *cran (+ -y), from Old French cran, cren (“notch, fissure”), a derivative of crener (“to notch, split”), from Medieval Latin crenō (“split”, verb), from Vulgar Latin *crinō (“split, break”, verb), of obscure origin; according to Watkins, of Gaulish origin, from Proto-Celtic *krīnos (“decayed, withered”). Despite a spurious use in Pliny, connection to Latin crēna (“notch, incision”) is doubtful. Instead, probably of Germanic or Celtic origin. Compare Old High German chrinna (“notch, groove, crevice”), Alemannic German Krinne (“small crack, channel, groove”), Low German karn (“notch, groove, crevice, cranny”), Old Irish ara-chrinin (“to perish, decay”).
More words from Middle English, Old French, Medieval Latin
Full word history & related roots →cranny · noun
Borrowed from Hindustani किरानी (kirānī) / کِرانِی (kirānī).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian пукнатина, пролука
- пукнатина (puknatina)small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink
- пролука (proluka)small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink
- процеп (procep)small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink
Czech skulina, puklina
- skulinasmall, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink
- puklinasmall, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink
- škvírasmall, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink
Dutch spleet, scheur
- spleetsmall, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink
- scheursmall, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink
Finnish halkeama, rako
- halkeamasmall, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink
- rakosmall, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink
German Spalt, Versteck
- Spaltsmall, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink
- Verstecksmall, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink
Māori piere, mātata
- pieresmall, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink
- mātatasmall, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink
Romanian fisură
- fisurăsmall, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink
Russian щель, трещина
- щель (ščelʹ)small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink
- трещина (treščina)small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink
Spanish recoveco
- recovecosmall, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink
Swedish springa
- springasmall, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink
Ukrainian щіль, щілина
- щіль (ščilʹ)small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink
- щілина (ščilyna)small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink
- тріщина (triščyna)small, narrow opening, fissure, crevice, or chink
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with cranny
All rhymes →Cite this entry
cranny. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cranny
“cranny.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cranny. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cranny,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cranny.
Source: cranny on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.