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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of craning
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
All of those spacecraft craning their necks to track a single object on command from Earth amount to nothing short of a sort of cosmic infrastructure, built and deployed by humans throughout their local solar system.
—Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 20 Nov. 2025
Hours after word emerged of the federal buildup, several Oaklanders pulled up to the bridge off Embarcadero and Dennison Street leading to Coast Guard Island, craning their necks to see the buildup for themselves.
—Jakob Rodgers, Mercury News, 22 Oct. 2025
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
All of those spacecraft craning their necks to track a single object on command from Earth amount to nothing short of a sort of cosmic infrastructure, built and deployed by humans throughout their local solar system.
—Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 20 Nov. 2025
Hours after word emerged of the federal buildup, several Oaklanders pulled up to the bridge off Embarcadero and Dennison Street leading to Coast Guard Island, craning their necks to see the buildup for themselves.
—Jakob Rodgers, Mercury News, 22 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for craning
Verb
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Both companies must also learn to operate in lunar orbit, and master landing their vehicles on the Moon and then subsequently lifting them off from the lunar surface.—
Eric Berger,
ArsTechnica,
11 Apr. 2026
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Hopes for lifting the ban rose after Lee and Xi met twice.—
Ken Moritsugu,
Fortune,
10 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Perhaps the easiest way to start an argument online is to post a video of a mother raising her child.—
Micah Barkley,
Bloomberg,
10 Apr. 2026
-
Political parties were disincentivized from forming coalitions—which might have unified the anti-Orbán vote—by incrementally raising the threshold required for alliances to enter Parliament.—
Kapil Komireddi,
New Yorker,
10 Apr. 2026
Verb
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But at long last, the drought is over; the NHL has a new dynasty — the 2020s Hurricanes, who are hoisting the Jim Corsi Cup for a fourth straight season.—
Dom Luszczyszyn,
New York Times,
10 Apr. 2026
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Jannik Sinner kept it classic, strapping on a Rolex Daytona before hoisting the championship trophy at the Miami Open.—
Rachel Cormack,
Robb Report,
4 Apr. 2026
Verb
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There are self-pampering add-ons too, like scheduling an in-room Swedish and deep-tissue massage, or elevating your sleep with a personalized turndown service.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
7 Apr. 2026
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Ailing with a hurt knee and foot that kept him from elevating, the graduate transfer from UAB finished with 13 points on 4-for-13 shooting.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
7 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Craning.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/craning. Accessed 14 Apr. 2026.
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