crane

Meanings

Noun

• Any bird of the family Gruidae, large birds with long legs and a long neck which is extended during flight.
• Ardea herodias, the great blue heron.
• A mechanical lifting machine or device, often used for lifting heavy loads for industrial or construction purposes.
• An iron arm with horizontal motion, attached to the side or back of a fireplace for supporting kettles etc. over the fire.
• A siphon, or bent pipe, for drawing liquors out of a cask.
• A forked post or projecting bracket to support spars, etc.; generally used in pairs.
• The cranium.

Verb

• To extend (one's neck).
• To raise or lower with, or as if with, a crane.
• To pull up before a jump.

Origin

• From Middle English cran, from Old English cran, from Proto-West Germanic *kranō, from Proto-Germanic *kranô, from Proto-Indo-European *gerh₂-.
• Cognate with Scots cran, Dutch kraan, German Kran. The mechanical devices are named from their likeness to the bird.