The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Crank \Crank\ (kr[a^][ng]k), n. [OE. cranke; akin to E. cringe,
   cringle, crinkle, and to crank, a., the root meaning,
   probably, "to turn, twist." See Cringe.]
   1. (Mach.) A bent portion of an axle, or shaft, or an arm
      keyed at right angles to the end of a shaft, by which
      motion is imparted to or received from it; also used to
      change circular into reciprocating motion, or
      reciprocating into circular motion. See Bell crank.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Any bend, turn, or winding, as of a passage.
      [1913 Webster]

            So many turning cranks these have, so many crooks.
                                                  --Spenser.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. A twist or turn in speech; a conceit consisting in a
      change of the form or meaning of a word.
      [1913 Webster]

            Quips, and cranks, and wanton wiles.  --Milton.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. A twist or turn of the mind; caprice; whim; crotchet;
      also, a fit of temper or passion. [Prov. Eng.]
      [1913 Webster]

            Violent of temper; subject to sudden cranks.
                                                  --Carlyle.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. A person full of crotchets; one given to fantastic or
      impracticable projects; one whose judgment is perverted in
      respect to a particular matter. [Colloq.]
      [1913 Webster]

   6. A sick person; an invalid. [Obs.]
      [1913 Webster]

            Thou art a counterfeit crank, a cheater. --Burton.
      [1913 Webster]

   Crank axle (Mach.), a driving axle formed with a crank or
      cranks, as in some kinds of locomotives.

   Crank pin (Mach.), the cylindrical piece which forms the
      handle, or to which the connecting rod is attached, at the
      end of a crank, or between the arms of a double crank.

   Crank shaft, a shaft bent into a crank, or having a crank
      fastened to it, by which it drives or is driven.

   Crank wheel, a wheel acting as a crank, or having a wrist
      to which a connecting rod is attached.
      [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Crank \Crank\ (kr[a^][ng]k), a. [AS. cranc weak; akin to Icel.
   krangr, D. & G. krank sick, weak (cf. D. krengen to careen).
   Cf. Crank, n.]
   1. Sick; infirm. [Prov. Eng.]
      [1913 Webster]

   2. (Naut.) Liable to careen or be overset, as a ship when she
      is too narrow, or has not sufficient ballast, or is loaded
      too high, to carry full sail.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Full of spirit; brisk; lively; sprightly; overconfident;
      opinionated.
      [1913 Webster]

            He who was, a little before, bedrid, . . . was now
            crank and lusty.                      --Udall.
      [1913 Webster]

            If you strong electioners did not think you were
            among the elect, you would not be so crank about it.
                                                  --Mrs. Stowe.
      [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Crank \Crank\, v. i. [See Crank, n.]
   To run with a winding course; to double; to crook; to wind
   and turn.
   [1913 Webster]

         See how this river comes me cranking in. --Shak.
   [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

crank
    adj 1: (used of boats) inclined to heel over easily under sail
           [syn: crank, cranky, tender, tippy]
    n 1: a bad-tempered person [syn: grouch, grump, crank,
         churl, crosspatch]
    2: a whimsically eccentric person [syn: crackpot, crank,
       nut, nut case, fruitcake, screwball]
    3: an amphetamine derivative (trade name Methedrine) used in the
       form of a crystalline hydrochloride; used as a stimulant to
       the nervous system and as an appetite suppressant [syn:
       methamphetamine, methamphetamine hydrochloride,
       Methedrine, meth, deoxyephedrine, chalk, chicken
       feed, crank, glass, ice, shabu, trash]
    4: a hand tool consisting of a rotating shaft with parallel
       handle [syn: crank, starter]
    v 1: travel along a zigzag path; "The river zigzags through the
         countryside" [syn: zigzag, crank]
    2: start by cranking; "crank up the engine" [syn: crank,
       crank up]
    3: rotate with a crank [syn: crank, crank up]
    4: fasten with a crank
    5: bend into the shape of a crank

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

257 Moby Thesaurus words for "crank":
   L, Tartar, abnormal, aficionado, alien, angle, angle off,
   anomalous, apex, bar, beam, bear, bee, bellyacher, bend, bifurcate,
   bifurcation, bight, boom, boutade, brainstorm, branch, branks,
   buff, bug, cant, cant hook, capriccio, caprice, case, character,
   chevron, circle, circulate, circumrotate, circumvolute, claw bar,
   coin, complainant, complainer, conceit, corner, crab, crackbrain,
   crackpot, crank in, crankish, cranky, craze, crazy idea, croaker,
   crook, crosspatch, crotchet, crotchety, crow, crowbar,
   cucking stool, cuckoo, deflection, deviant, deviative, devotee,
   different, ding-a-ling, divergent, dogleg, dotty, dragon, draw in,
   draw taut, ducking stool, eccentric, elbow, ell, energumen,
   enthusiast, erratic, exceptional, fad, fan, fanatic, fanatico,
   fancy, fantastic notion, fantasy, faultfinder, feist, fey,
   finger pillory, fire-eater, flake, flaky, flimflam, fool notion,
   fork, freak, freakish, freakish inspiration, frondeur, funny,
   furcate, furcation, fury, go around, go round, griper,
   grizzly bear, grouch, grouser, growler, grumbler, gyrate, gyre,
   handspike, harebrain, harebrained idea, hermit, hobo, hook,
   hothead, hotspur, humor, idiocratic, idiosyncratic, infatuate,
   inflection, iron crow, irregular, jimmy, kicker, kink, kinky, knee,
   kook, kooky, kvetch, lever, limb, lone wolf, loner, lunatic,
   lunatic fringe, maggot, maggoty, malcontent, marlinespike,
   maverick, megrim, meshuggenah, monomaniac, murmurer, mutterer,
   natural, nonconformist, nook, notion, nut, nutty, odd, odd fellow,
   oddball, oddity, original, outrigger, outsider, pariah,
   passing fancy, peavey, peculiar, pedal, pillory, pinch bar,
   pirouette, pivot, point, prize, pry, pull in, queer, queer duck,
   queer fish, queer specimen, querulous person, quirk, quirky, quoin,
   rara avis, reactionary, reactionist, rebel, recluse, reel, reel in,
   revolve, ripping bar, rotate, round, screw, screwball, screwy,
   singular, solitary, sorehead, sourpuss, spar, spin, stocks,
   strange, strange duck, swerve, swing, swivel, tackle, tauten,
   tighten, toy, tramp, treadle, treadmill, trebuchet, triangle,
   triangles, trim, turn, turn a pirouette, turn around, turn round,
   twist, twisted, type, ugly customer, unconventional, unnatural,
   vagary, veer, vertex, wacky, wamble, weirdo, wheel, whim,
   whim-wham, whimsical, whimsy, whiner, whipping post, winch, wind,
   wind in, windlass, wooden horse, wrecking bar, zag, zealot, zig,
   zigzag



The Jargon File (version 4.4.7, 29 Dec 2003):

crank
 vt.

    [from automotive slang] Verb used to describe the performance of a machine,
    especially sustained performance. ?This box cranks (or, cranks at) about 6
    megaflops, with a burst mode of twice that on vectorized operations.?


The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):

crank

   (Automotive slang) Verb used to describe the performance of a
   machine, especially sustained performance.  "This box cranks
   (or, cranks at) about 6 megaflops, with a burst mode of twice
   that on vectorised operations."

   [Jargon File]

   (1994-12-01)