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
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
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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All those paramedics and EMTs, lifting her from one gurney to another, into and out of an ambulance, onto and off a plane.—
Matthew Futterman,
New York Times,
22 Feb. 2026
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Instead, bringing a lightweight carry-on backpack as a personal item reduces lifting strain by splitting the weight while still maximizing storage.—
Julie Rousseau,
Travel + Leisure,
21 Feb. 2026
Verb
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But what was really baffling was Cronin’s claim that the questioner was raising his voice.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
19 Feb. 2026
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That reality means balancing work, wellness and raising her young son, which has become the foundation for her latest collaboration with Fabletics.—
Casey DelBasso,
ABC News,
19 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The chopper returned to the airport about an hour after recovering three of the dead skiers, authorities said, hoisting them up from the avalanche field and then down to tractor-like snowcat vehicles that brought them out to Truckee where a coroner received them.—
Molly Gibbs,
Mercury News,
21 Feb. 2026
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Defense wins championships, but before the Galaxy can even think about hoisting their seventh MLS Cup, their defense has to improve.—
Damian Calhoun,
Daily News,
21 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Other staff at the Oklahoma Corporation Commission proposed elevating the Boarmans’ case to the agency’s administrative law court to further evaluate the cause of the pollution and pursue potential enforcement.—
Nick Bowlin,
The Frontier,
16 Feb. 2026
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The Chens aren’t the only ones elevating Chinese cuisine.—
Terry Tang,
Fortune,
16 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Craning.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/craning. Accessed 24 Feb. 2026.
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