How to Use crank in a Sentence

crank

1 of 2 noun
  • To open the car window, turn the crank on the door.
  • Most people think she's just a harmless crank.
  • He was dismissed as a crank until his article was published.
  • Not all titles use the crank, but the ones that do stand out.
    — Julian Chokkattu, Wired, 22 July 2021
  • Hold down the lid with one hand and turn the crank with the other hand.
    — Belle Duchene, Better Homes & Gardens, 8 Feb. 2024
  • Relate to them like a person, rather than a crank.
    — Mike Rothschild, Big Think, 31 Mar. 2026
  • Reel in a crank, or two, so the float stands up and the bait is just off the bottom.
    — cleveland, 9 July 2020
  • There are many worse things, though, than being a well-meaning crank.
    — Christopher Hooks, Harpers Magazine, 23 June 2026
  • Try for walleye by trolling crank baits over flats that are 25 feet deep.
    — Flip Putthoff, Arkansas Online, 3 Jan. 2023
  • Mario can even jump his way across the screen, thanks to a clever hand-crank assembly.
    — Jonathan Bender, Popular Mechanics, 13 Oct. 2022
  • Turn a crank and the man groaned and waved one arm over his mouth while the animal growled.
    — Ron Charles, Washington Post, 6 June 2023
  • There is too much to lose from having another crank at the helm.
    — New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 23 May 2026
  • The crank was also simple to use and worked smoothly with each roll.
    — Michelle Love, Better Homes & Gardens, 14 Sep. 2023
  • Many of the top perch crank baits, jigs and ice fishing lures are made to look like a smaller perch.
    — Jordan Rodriguez, Idaho Statesman, 31 Jan. 2024
  • Not even close, since the peak of 502 hp is dyno-proven at the wheels, not at the crank.
    — Michael Teo Van Runkle, Ars Technica, 17 Nov. 2023
  • Crew turns the crank, spinning the comb at great speeds causing the honey to fall out.
    — Sam Burros, Peoplemag, 28 Aug. 2023
  • Scrooge’s lonely gravestone appears stage right via hand crank.
    — Teri Sforza, Oc Register, 4 Dec. 2025
  • Trolling crank baits along points and flats 15 feet deep over deeper water should still work.
    — Arkansas Online, 16 Sep. 2025
  • Most of these use a hand crank to churn, which can be a novelty at first, but a drag as the process wears on.
    — Bestreviews, Chicago Tribune, 15 Apr. 2026
  • Using the hand crank, a guard could rotate them to let an inmate into an open cell.
    — Domenica Bongiovanni, The Indianapolis Star, 2 Aug. 2022
  • The hand crank handle is easy to move, without the need to constantly grip or squeeze.
    — Molly Allen, Southern Living, 7 Dec. 2023
  • But as the temperature dial cranks up, the threats are shared.
    — The Arizona Republic, 31 July 2023
  • Casement windows are hinged on the side and open outward to the left or right with a crank handle.
    — Bridget Degnan, Better Homes & Gardens, 11 June 2021
  • These hooks that held the yarns could all be spun together in the same direction with a hand crank.
    — Literary Hub, 12 Aug. 2025
  • Finish with a drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkling of flaky sea salt and some cranks of black pepper.
    — Odette Williams, WSJ, 17 Feb. 2023
  • But Bob hid the crank so that Desmond would be forced to play on a regular-sized goal.
    — Joel Lorenzi, The Indianapolis Star, 17 Feb. 2022
  • Look for daytime highs in the upper 50s along the coastline as a light sea breeze cranks up.
    — Gerry Díaz, San Francisco Chronicle, 16 Mar. 2023
  • Torque and cadence sensors at the crank measure how hard and how fast the rider pedals.
    — IEEE Spectrum, 18 Nov. 2025
  • Perhaps the base of the U is a gear system connecting the cranks at one end.
    — New Atlas, 22 Nov. 2025
  • From the very top, the cast cranks up the energy to a 10, leaving them nowhere to go from there.
    — Ross Raihala, Twin Cities, 7 Feb. 2024

crank

2 of 2 verb
  • Crank the engine to see if it will start.
  • He cranked the temperature to 75 degrees.
  • Things haven’t been cranked up a notch.
    — Roderick Boone, Charlotte Observer, 21 Oct. 2025
  • With the volume cranked all the way up.
    — Los Angeles Times, 5 Mar. 2026
  • Now crank up the tunes and give your floors a refresh.
    — Lauren Wicks, Southern Living, 24 Nov. 2025
  • Don’t crank up a van, don’t drop something.
    — Mike Fleming Jr, Deadline, 19 Feb. 2026
  • Add the final ½ of milk, then crank things up to high.
    — Karla Walsh, Better Homes & Gardens, 18 Oct. 2025
  • As rain winds down and a cold front slides through, winds will crank late tonight.
    — Ian Livingston, Washington Post, 25 Jan. 2023
  • Canes great Michael Irvin cranked the pregame siren.
    — Miami Herald, 21 Sep. 2025
  • The Voidz is cranked even further.
    — The Editors, Vulture, 1 Dec. 2025
  • Long way to go and Norway hasn’t even got cranked up yet.
    — John Cherwa, Los Angeles Times, 10 Feb. 2026
  • Avoid cranking your neck and looking up.
    — Will Stone, NPR, 31 Jan. 2026
  • George’s ears were ruined by speakers cranked, over many years.
    — Lars Brandle, Billboard, 19 Apr. 2023
  • And keep an eye on the heat—if the burner’s cranked up too high, the cheese can seize up.
    — Maggie Meyer Glisan, Better Homes & Gardens, 20 June 2026
  • Lisa gets into the tanning bed and instructs him to crank the heat up.
    — Jessica Wang, EW.com, 10 Feb. 2024
  • Pile the family into the car, crank up the tunes and take the scenic route.
    — Cameron Jenkins, Good Housekeeping, 29 Apr. 2022
  • This time, the drama was cranked up about as far as these things go in the first week of May.
    — Levi Weaver, New York Times, 7 May 2026
  • The windows go down; the FM radio cranks up.
    — Kelly Ryan Kegans, Midwest Living, 22 May 2026
  • Many lower-price earbuds seem to crank up the bass as much as possible.
    — Geoffrey Morrison, wsj.com, 31 Oct. 2023
  • On the flipside don’t crank up the pressure on yourself during a hunt.
    — Alex Robinson, Outdoor Life, 12 Oct. 2023
  • Here’s your invitation to crank up your song of choice and get moving.
    — Helen Carefoot, Flow Space, 18 May 2026
  • Season 3 cranks the tension up to an 11 and ends on a humdinger of a twist.
    — Allison Degrushe Published, EW.com, 15 Aug. 2025
  • Every time the movie goes to commercial, the volume gets cranked up way too loud.
    — Ben Cohen, WSJ, 10 Nov. 2023
  • Some think the answer is to crank up the vacuum, so the pipes slurp gas at a higher rate.
    — Eric Boodman, STAT, 18 Apr. 2023
  • Turn up the thermostat one degree a day and see who’s willing to crank it up the next day.
    — Avery Elizabeth Hurt, National Geographic, 3 Aug. 2020
  • Lucas partied with the DJs at the top of the bus as the tunes were cranked.
    — Joseph Hernandez, Kansas City Star, 25 June 2026
  • Climbing yields there have cranked up the pressure on economies and stock markets worldwide.
    — ABC News, 17 May 2026
  • Climbing yields there have cranked up the pressure on economies and stock markets worldwide.
    — Stan Choe, Los Angeles Times, 18 May 2026
  • Start out by setting it between ¼ and ½ gain for a few weeks before starting to crank it up.
    — Bestreviews, Mercury News, 10 Sep. 2025
  • So crank the tunes, pop open a bottle of vino, and marinate in the swirling, dervish of chaos.
    — Tim Moffatt, EW.com, 17 Nov. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'crank.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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