as in lifting
to move from a lower to a higher place or position
craned her head to see the roof
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Recent Examples of craning
The wind will be much, much lighter, so craning the whole fleet into the water will not be the problem.
—
Andrew Rice, New York Times, 31 May 2026
Beyond the glass, across a small rocky strip of water, the zoo’s eldest giraffe is craning his impossibly long, elegant neck up to a hanging basket of foliage and methodically stripping the branches of their bark.
—Irenie Forshaw, TheWeek, 11 May 2026
Joshua appeared as surprised as any of us, craning around as if the words had been blurted by someone on the periphery.
—Chang-Rae Lee, New Yorker, 3 May 2026
This flexible holder attaches easily to your seatback tray table and adjusts to multiple angles, allowing for hands-free viewing without craning your neck.
—Samantha Leal, Travel + Leisure, 18 Apr. 2026
Crowds of bird fans carrying smartphones and cameras are craning daily for a look at its silly walk, while mostly maintaining a respectful distance.
—ABC News, 9 Apr. 2026
Necks craning to the back of the hall, a hush fell over the small parochial church of Santa María Trinitá on the African island of São Tomé.
—Literary Hub, 19 Mar. 2026
At large venues like the Paramount, late entries can mean watching from the upper balcony, craning toward the screen.
—Ana Gutierrez, Austin American Statesman, 13 Mar. 2026
This color is eye-catching, turning heads and craning the necks of everyone from the elderly to state police.
—Jesus R. Garcia, Houston Chronicle, 4 Jan. 2026
Andrew Rice, New York Times, 31 May 2026
Beyond the glass, across a small rocky strip of water, the zoo’s eldest giraffe is craning his impossibly long, elegant neck up to a hanging basket of foliage and methodically stripping the branches of their bark.
—Irenie Forshaw, TheWeek, 11 May 2026
Joshua appeared as surprised as any of us, craning around as if the words had been blurted by someone on the periphery.
—Chang-Rae Lee, New Yorker, 3 May 2026
This flexible holder attaches easily to your seatback tray table and adjusts to multiple angles, allowing for hands-free viewing without craning your neck.
—Samantha Leal, Travel + Leisure, 18 Apr. 2026
Crowds of bird fans carrying smartphones and cameras are craning daily for a look at its silly walk, while mostly maintaining a respectful distance.
—ABC News, 9 Apr. 2026
Necks craning to the back of the hall, a hush fell over the small parochial church of Santa María Trinitá on the African island of São Tomé.
—Literary Hub, 19 Mar. 2026
At large venues like the Paramount, late entries can mean watching from the upper balcony, craning toward the screen.
—Ana Gutierrez, Austin American Statesman, 13 Mar. 2026
This color is eye-catching, turning heads and craning the necks of everyone from the elderly to state police.
—Jesus R. Garcia, Houston Chronicle, 4 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for craning
Verb
-
Japan has recently taken steps to expand its defense posture, including lifting its ban on lethal arms exports and mulling changes to Article 9 of its constitution, which renounces war and the maintenance of armed forces.—
Lim Hui Jie,
CNBC,
31 May 2026
-
Aside from these new big punchers, the new space age is seeing a plethora of new companies seeking to cut themselves a slice of the market for lifting small payloads, often in multi-satellite deployments, into low Earth orbit.—
David Szondy
May 31,
New Atlas,
31 May 2026
Verb
-
He was recently asked about raising taxes on the rich.—
Stephen Moore,
Boston Herald,
29 May 2026
-
Last year’s conference-final loss to the Florida Panthers — an ugly result for an overmatched roster that had spent the regular season outkicking its coverage, maximizing its performance and raising expectations to an unreasonable level — is on that ledger, too.—
Sean Gentille,
New York Times,
28 May 2026
Verb
-
That’s 22 golfers in all that history says have at least a shot at hoisting the Wanamaker Trophy on Sunday night outside of Philadelphia.—
Brendan Quinn,
New York Times,
17 May 2026
-
Crews rigged a hoisting system using a ladder truck as a high point to raise the victim up to safety, according to fire officials.—
Justin Muszynski,
Hartford Courant,
13 May 2026
Verb
-
The rooms Recent renovations have been completed in all the rooms, elevating their stature with subtle colors and chic furnishings.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
2 June 2026
-
From cat-eye beauties to throwback, oversized statement makers, these glasses will take you from parade float to bar crawl in style (while elevating your ensembles year-round).—
Stacia Datskovska,
Footwear News,
1 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Craning.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/craning. Accessed 4 Jun. 2026.
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