crane

Noun

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

Verb

1. (ambitransitive) To extend (one's neck).
2. (transitive) To raise or lower with, or as if with, a crane.
3. (intransitive) To pull up before a jump.

Pronounced as (IPA)

/kɹeɪn/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: crane

Inherited from Old English: cran

Cognate with Scots: cran

Cognate with Dutch: kraan

Cognate with German: Kran

In summary

From Middle English crane, from Old English cran (“crane”), from Proto-West Germanic *kran, *kranō, from Proto-Germanic *kranô (“crane”), from Proto-Indo-European *gerh₂- (“to cry hoarsely”).
Cognate with Scots cran (“crane”), Dutch kraan (“crane”), German Low German Kroon (“crane”), German Kran (“crane”). The mechanical devices are named from their likeness to the bird.

Synonyms

heron

derrick

hoist

egret

jack

stork

stretch out

bird

🐦

davit

lift

stretch

great blue heron

Grus

gull

distend

hesitate

crested

hoister

crab

🦀

hoisting engine

lifter

mechanical

ology

pulley

reach

reach out

siphon

sling

sprawl

common crane

strain

derrick truck

cock

tackle

tense

thief

tow truck

transporter

whooper

sling van

hoisting machine

suspended ceiling

raise one’s head up

Sārasa bird

crane truck

hoisting apparatus

lifting machine

elevator

🛗

erector

extend

Translations

grue

gru

Kran

γερανός

żuraw

Kranich

grúa

kraanvogel

grulla

hijskraan

grou

kraan

grus

كركي

grua