3. (American).—An eccentric, a crotcheteer. [From the colloquial cranky
(q.v.) = full of crotchets; crazy.] Cf., Counterfeit Crank.
1886. Florida Times Union, 22 May. I know perfectly well that I
shall probably be called an old fogy, if not a crank, for presuming
to think that anything in the past can be better than in the
present.
1887. New York Tribune, 4 Nov. A good deal of ridicule, mostly
good-natured, is showered upon the base-ball crank, as everybody
persists in calling the man or woman who manifests any deep
interest in the great American game.
1888. Daily Inter-Ocean, 2 Feb. The man was evidently a crank, and
said that 4,000 dollars were due him by the Government.
Adj. (nautical).—Easily upset: e.g., ‘the skiff is very crank.’
Crank-Cuffin, subs. (old).—One of the canting-crew whose specialty was
to feign sickness. [From crank (q.v., sense 1), the ‘falling-sickness,’
+ cuffin (see Cove), a man.]
1749. Bampfylde Moore-Carew, Oath of the Canting Crew. I,
Crank-Cuffin, swear to be True to this fraternity.
Cranky, adj. (colloquial).—Crotchetty; whimsical; ricketty; not to be
depended upon; crazy. [Cf., quot., 1787.]
English Synonyms. Dicky; maggotty; dead-alive; yappy; touched;
chumpish; comical; dotty; rocketty; queer; faddy; fadmongering;
twisted; funny.
French Synonyms. Chevrotin (popular: applied to a bad or irritable
temper); être comme un crin (popular); avoir sa chique (familiar: said
of the temper).
1787. Grose, Prov. Glossary. Cranky, ailing, sickly; from the Dutch
crank, sick.
1840. Dickens, Old Curiosity Shop, ch. vii., p. 33. Adding to this
retort an observation to the effect that his friend appeared to be
rather cranky in point of temper.
1863. C. Reade, Hard Cash, II., 113. He had repeatedly been called
into cases of mania described as sudden, and almost invariably
found the patient had been cranky for years.
1873. Mrs. Edwards, A Vagabond Heroine, in Temple Bar, June. ‘On
goes the cranky carriage, on goes the swearing driver and the high
souled Burke.’
1874. Mrs. H. Wood, Johnny Ludlow, 1 S., No. III., p. 42. ‘What’s
the matter now?’ asked Mrs. Hall, in her cranky way.
Cranny, subs. (venery).—The female pudendum. For synonyms, see
Monosyllable.
Cranny-Hunter, subs. (venery).—The penis. For synonyms; see Creamstick.
Crap, subs. (old):—1. Money; sometimes crop. For synonyms, see Actual
and Gilt.
1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5 ed.); s.v.
1787. Grose, Prov. Glossary and Dict. Vulg. Tongue [1785]. Crap ...
In the north it is sometimes used for money.