cranks 1 of 2

noun

plural of crank
1
as in eccentrics
a person of odd or whimsical habits she's a bit of a crank, but still a good-hearted person

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in crabs
an irritable and complaining person he's always a crank until he has his morning coffee

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in whims
a sudden impulsive and apparently unmotivated idea or action his endless and unpredictable cranks made spending time with him exhausting

Synonyms & Similar Words

cranks

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of crank
as in coils

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of cranks
Noun
Actual bicycle pedals, complete with cranks, chain and sprocket. — Kevin Fanady, New Atlas, 6 Nov. 2026 Record-collecting Gen X cranks might be reminded of rickety ’90s fixtures like Cheater Slicks and Country Teasers. — Stuart Berman, Pitchfork, 5 Nov. 2026 Gone were compositor rooms where as many as a 100 workers laid out letters and pulled cranks. — Aaron Glantz, Christian Science Monitor, 31 Oct. 2026 The key to the future Today, the car key itself could be going the way of engine hand cranks. — Alison J. Stein, HubSpot, 29 Oct. 2026 Many spent their days suspended from steel cables, raised and lowered along the mountainside by hand cranks. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 Sep. 2026 In 2022, a group calling itself the America First SOS Coalition endorsed a slate of cranks and quacks who ran for secretary of state in 14 states, including the presidential battlegrounds of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin. — Los Angeles Times, 6 Sep. 2026 Trump cranks heat on Warsh Friday’s comments show Trump resuming his pressure campaign against the Fed, which had eased since the appointment of Warsh, his handpicked successor to Jerome Powell. — Kevin Breuninger, CNBC, 4 Sep. 2026 Indeed, cranks and conspiracists on the American and British hard right now exist in happy symbiosis. — Helen Lewis, The Atlantic, 26 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cranks
  1. eccentrics
  2. crabs
  3. whims
  4. coils
  5. nuts
  6. complainers
  7. notions
  8. winds
Noun
  • Step inside, though, and you’re transported to a bucolic Britain of rolling hills and village greens, bumbling eccentrics and cute, clever farm animals.
    — Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 22 Oct. 2026
  • The professionalization worked, but at the expense of the site’s internal culture, Cooke argues, as generous eccentrics were displaced by neurotic lovers of rules.
    — Julian Lucas, New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of eccentrics
Noun
  • The waterfront features a whiskey distillery, green spaces and restaurants offering local delicacy options, like steamed crabs and crab cakes.
    — Angelica Stabile, FOXNews.com, 1 Nov. 2026
  • The shrimp are ready first, then bowls of crabs, and clams and sea mollusks.
    — Aube Rey Lescure, Longreads, 29 Oct. 2026
Definition of crabs
Noun
  • President Veto can’t be allowed to hold our country hostage to his maniacal whims anymore.
    — Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 7 Nov. 2026
  • That puts it at the whims of company climate policies, which can shift with political winds.
    — Hilary Whiteman, CNN Money, 6 Nov. 2026
Definition of whims
Verb
  • Refrigerator Coils The condenser coils responsible for keeping your appliance functioning become covered in dust over time.
    — Louise Parks, Martha Stewart, 27 July 2026
  • Dry all surfaces completely and replace knobs, drip pans, and coils back on the stove.
    — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 9 July 2026
Definition of coils
Noun
  • Research shows that people who eat more nuts tend to have a lower risk of various heart diseases and of dying from a stroke as compared to people who don’t eat nuts often.
    — Mark Gurarie, HEALTH, 4 Nov. 2026
  • Focus on whole, nutrient-rich foods—especially fresh produce, whole grains, nuts, and legumes.
    — Lana Barhum, Verywell Health, 4 Nov. 2026
Definition of nuts
Noun
  • Are they deluded into thinking that the complainers are just a squeaky wheel minority and the majority of fans are happy with it?
    — Jeremy Rutherford, New York Times, 13 July 2026
  • However, the Lakers are complainers to begin with and have always gotten a favorable whistle.
    — David Troy OutKick, FOXNews.com, 11 May 2026
Definition of complainers
Noun
  • Move beyond antiquated notions of making your first three seconds a logo and a tagline.
    — Phoena Pang, Forbes.com, 30 Oct. 2026
  • Sitting on the eastern edge of the Sonoran Desert, Tucson, Arizona, dispels all such notions.
    — Tovar Cerulli, Condé Nast Traveler, 28 Oct. 2026
Definition of notions
Verb
  • There’s something to be said for skipping the drive and taking the train instead, especially when the journey winds through some of the Northeast’s prettiest scenery.
    — Lauren Dana Ellman, Travel + Leisure, 1 Nov. 2026
  • But the sudden evolution of the improbably shaped and hyperabundant broiler chicken will be unmissable because the osseous debris of our fowl hunger—drumsticks and wing bones and oversized sternums—winds its way into landfills.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of winds

Browse Nearby Words

crank out
cranks
cranks out
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Cite this Entry

“Cranks.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cranks. Accessed 10 Nov. 2026.

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