crank

crank [kræŋk] v. i.

1.) To run with a winding course; to double; to crook; to wind and turn.

crank n.

1.) A twist or turn in speech; a conceit consisting in a change of the form or meaning of a word.
2.) Any bend, turn, or winding, as of a passage.
3.) (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.
4.) [Prov. Eng.] A twist or turn of the mind; caprice; whim; crotchet; also, a fit of temper or passion.
5.) [Colloq.] A person full of crotchets; one given to fantastic or impracticable projects; one whose judgment is perverted in respect to a particular matter.
6.) [Obs.] A sick person; an invalid.

Etymology: Middle English, from Old English cranc-, as in crancstæf, weaving implement.

crank a.

1.) Full of spirit; brisk; lively; sprightly; overconfident; opinionated.
2.) [Prov. Eng.] Sick; infirm.
3.) (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 (GNU Collaborative Dictionary of English).

Etymology: Of obscure origin, not easily connected with the other words of same spelling.

"Methinks my moiety, north from Burton here,
In quantity equals not one of yours.
See how this river comes me cranking in
And cuts me from the best of all my land
A huge half-moon, a monstrous cantle out.
I'll have the current ill this place damm'd up,
And here the smug and sliver Trent shall run
In a new channel fair and evenly.
It shall not wind with such a deep indent
To rob me of so rich a bottom here" (Henry IV Part One, William Shakespeare, ~1597).

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A quote from Henry "Hotspur" Percy in honour of the Champion's League tie tonight. Come on you Spurs!