Crane vs. Crank — What's the Difference?
Edited by Tayyaba Rehman — By Urooj Arif — Updated on May 7, 2024
A crane is a large machine used for lifting and moving heavy objects, often found in construction and shipping, while a crank is a mechanical part used to convert rotational motion into linear motion.
Difference Between Crane and Crank
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
A crane is typically a tall, tower-like structure or a mobile piece of equipment with cables and pulleys that lift and move heavy materials. It is crucial in industries like construction, where it helps in building infrastructure, and in ports for loading and unloading cargo. On the other hand, a crank is a lever arm attached at a right angle to a rotating shaft, such as in a car engine or bicycle, facilitating the conversion of circular motion into a reciprocating motion.
Crane operations often involve hydraulic systems, wire ropes, and winches to handle materials from one place to another safely. In contrast, cranks are integral to internal combustion engines and bicycles, where they help translate the energy into motion.
The design and function of cranes can vary, from fixed position tower cranes to mobile cranes and even floating cranes used for maritime tasks. Meanwhile, cranks are found in various sizes and configurations but always serve the purpose of causing motion through mechanical advantage.
Cranes play a significant role in the efficiency of many sectors by reducing the time and manpower required for heavy lifting tasks. Cranks, while less visible, are equally crucial in everyday mechanics, powering everything from vehicles to hand-operated drills.
Comparison Chart
Definition
Machine for lifting/moving heavy objects
Mechanical part converting rotational motion
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Usage
Construction, shipping
Engines, bicycles
Function
Lift and move materials
Translate motion
Key Components
Cables, pulleys, winches
Lever arm, rotating shaft
Industries
Construction, maritime, transportation
Automotive, cycling, machinery
Compare with Definitions
Crane
Equipped with cables and pulleys to manage loads.
Operators must be trained to handle crane cables and controls effectively.
Crank
Consists of a rod with an arm attached at a right angle.
Adjusting the length of the crank can change the mechanical advantage.
Crane
A machine that lifts and moves heavy materials, often at construction sites.
The construction site used a crane to lift the steel beams.
Crank
A part that changes rotating motion into back-and-forth motion.
The engine’s crank converts the motion into power for the car.
Crane
Various types include tower, mobile, and crawler cranes.
The mobile crane can be moved to different parts of the construction site as needed.
Crank
Fundamental component in many mechanical devices.
Bicycle cranks are pivotal for transferring leg power into motion.
Crane
Can be stationary or mobile, depending on the application.
For the bridge construction, a floating crane was brought in.
Crank
Used in settings from small machinery to large industrial equipment.
The old-fashioned hand-crank was used to start the engine.
Crane
Integral to projects requiring heavy lifting and precision.
Without the crane, the assembly of the modules would be impossible.
Crank
Affects the efficiency and output of mechanical operations.
A well-designed crank can significantly enhance engine performance.
Crane
Any of various large wading birds of the family Gruidae, having a long neck, long legs, and a long bill.
Crank
Turn the crankshaft of (an internal combustion engine) in order to start the engine
The starter motor struggled to crank the engine
Move the pitch lever into the normal range and crank up the engine
Crane
A similar bird, such as a heron.
Crank
Give a bend to (a shaft, bar, etc.)
Paddle styles also vary—long, short, cranked, etc.
Crane
A machine for hoisting and moving heavy objects by means of cables attached to a movable boom.
Crank
Inject a narcotic drug
He's been cranking up on smack
Crane
Any of various devices with a swinging arm, as in a fireplace for suspending a pot.
Crank
A part of an axle or shaft bent out at right angles, for converting reciprocal to circular motion and vice versa
A long con rod which acts as a longer lever on the crank
Crane
To hoist or move with or as if with a crane.
Crank
The drug methamphetamine.
Crane
To strain and stretch (the neck, for example) in order to see better.
Crank
An eccentric person, especially one who is obsessed by a particular subject
I am used to getting crank calls from conspiracy theorists
When he first started to air his views, they labelled him a crank
Crane
To stretch one's neck toward something for a better view.
Crank
A fanciful turn of speech.
Crane
To be irresolute; hesitate.
Crank
(of a sailing ship) liable to heel over.
Crane
Any bird of the family Gruidae, large birds with long legs and a long neck which is extended during flight.
Crank
A device for transmitting rotary motion, consisting of a handle or arm attached at right angles to a shaft.
Crane
Ardea herodias, the great blue heron.
Crank
A clever turn of speech; a verbal conceit
Quips and cranks.
Crane
A mechanical lifting machine or device, often used for lifting heavy loads for industrial or construction purposes.
Crank
A peculiar or eccentric idea or action.
Crane
An iron arm with horizontal motion, attached to the side or back of a fireplace for supporting kettles etc. over the fire.
Crank
A grouchy person.
Crane
A siphon, or bent pipe, for drawing liquors out of a cask.
Crank
An eccentric person, especially one who is unduly zealous.
Crane
(nautical) A forked post or projecting bracket to support spars, etc.; generally used in pairs.
Crank
(Slang) Methamphetamine.
Crane
(obsolete) The cranium.
Crank
To start or operate (an engine, for example) by or as if by turning a handle.
Crane
(ambitransitive) To extend (one's neck).
Crank
To move or operate (a window, for example) by or as if by turning a handle.
Crane
(transitive) To raise or lower with, or as if with, a crane.
Crank
To make into the shape of a crank; bend.
Crane
(intransitive) To pull up before a jump.
Crank
To provide with a handle that is used in turning.
Crane
A wading bird of the genus Grus, and allied genera, of various species, having a long, straight bill, and long legs and neck.
Crank
To turn a handle.
Crane
Any arm which swings about a vertical axis at one end, used for supporting a suspended weight.
Crank
To wind in a zigzagging course.
Crane
A machine for raising and lowering heavy weights, and, while holding them suspended, transporting them through a limited lateral distance. In one form it consists of a projecting arm or jib of timber or iron, a rotating post or base, and the necessary tackle, windlass, etc.; - so called from a fancied similarity between its arm and the neck of a crane See Illust. of Derrick.
Crank
Of, being, or produced by an eccentric person
A crank letter.
A crank phone call.
Crane
An iron arm with horizontal motion, attached to the side or back of a fireplace, for supporting kettles, etc., over a fire.
Crank
Liable to capsize; unstable.
Crane
A siphon, or bent pipe, for drawing liquors out of a cask.
Crank
(slang) Strange, weird, odd.
Crane
A forked post or projecting bracket to support spars, etc., - generally used in pairs. See Crotch, 2.
Crank
Sick; unwell.
Crane
The American blue heron (Ardea herodias).
Crank
Liable to capsize because of poorly stowed cargo or insufficient ballast.
Crane
To cause to rise; to raise or lift, as by a crane; - with up.
What engines, what instruments are used in craning up a soul, sunk below the center, to the highest heavens.
An upstart craned up to the height he has.
Crank
Full of spirit; brisk; lively; sprightly; overconfident; opinionated.
Crane
To stretch, as a crane stretches its neck; as, to crane the neck disdainfully.
Crank
A bent piece of an axle or shaft, or an attached arm perpendicular, or nearly so, to the end of a shaft or wheel, used to impart a rotation to a wheel or other mechanical device; also used to change circular into reciprocating motion, or reciprocating into circular motion.
I grind my coffee by hand with a coffee grinder with a crank handle.
Crane
To reach forward with head and neck, in order to see better; as, a hunter cranes forward before taking a leap.
The passengers eagerly craning forward over the bulwarks.
Crank
Clipping of crankshaft
Crane
United States writer (1871-1900)
Crank
The act of converting power into motion, by turning a crankshaft.
Yes, a crank was all it needed to start.
Give it a forceful crank.
Crane
United States poet (1899-1932)
Crank
(archaic) Any bend, turn, or winding, as of a passage.
Crane
Lifts and moves heavy objects; lifting tackle is suspended from a pivoted boom that rotates around a vertical axis
Crank
(informal) An ill-tempered or nasty person.
Billy-Bob is a nasty old crank! He chased my cat away.
Crane
Large long-necked wading bird of marshes and plains in many parts of the world
Crank
A twist or turn of the mind; caprice; whim;
Crane
Stretch (the neck) so as to see better;
The women craned their necks to see the President drive by
Crank
A fit of temper or passion.
Crank
A person who is considered strange or odd by others. They may behave in unconventional ways.
John is a crank because he talks to himself.
Crank
A baseball fan.
Crank
(informal) An amateur in science or other technical subjects who persistently advocates flawed theories
That crank next door thinks he’s created cold fusion in his garage.
Crank
Synonym of methamphetamine.
Danny got abscesses from shooting all that bathtub crank.
Crank
(rare) A twist or turn in speech; word play consisting in a change of the form or meaning of a word.
Crank
(obsolete) A sick person; an invalid.
Crank
(slang) The penis.
Crank
(transitive) To turn by means of a crank.
Motorists had to crank their engine by hand.
Crank
(intransitive) To turn a crank.
He's been cranking all day and yet it refuses to crank.
Crank
To turn.
He's been cranking all day and yet it refuses to crank.
Crank
(transitive) To cause to spin via other means, as though turned by a crank.
I turn the key and crank the engine; yet it doesn't turn over
Crank it up!
Crank
(intransitive) To act in a cranky manner; to behave unreasonably and irritably, especially through complaining.
Quit cranking about your spilt milk!
Crank
(intransitive) To be running at a high level of output or effort.
By one hour into the shift, the boys were really cranking.
Crank
To run with a winding course; to double; to crook; to wind and turn.
Crank
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.
Crank
Any bend, turn, or winding, as of a passage.
So many turning cranks these have, so many crooks.
Crank
A twist or turn in speech; a conceit consisting in a change of the form or meaning of a word.
Quips, and cranks, and wanton wiles.
Crank
A twist or turn of the mind; caprice; whim; crotchet; also, a fit of temper or passion.
Violent of temper; subject to sudden cranks.
Crank
A person full of crotchets; one given to fantastic or impracticable projects; one whose judgment is perverted in respect to a particular matter.
Crank
A sick person; an invalid.
Thou art a counterfeit crank, a cheater.
Crank
Sick; infirm.
Crank
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.
Crank
Full of spirit; brisk; lively; sprightly; overconfident; opinionated.
He who was, a little before, bedrid, . . . was now crank and lusty.
If you strong electioners did not think you were among the elect, you would not be so crank about it.
Crank
To run with a winding course; to double; to crook; to wind and turn.
See how this river comes me cranking in.
Crank
A bad-tempered person
Crank
A whimsically eccentric person
Crank
Amphetamine used in the form of a crystalline hydrochloride; used as a stimulant to the nervous system and as an appetite suppressant
Crank
A hand tool consisting of a rotating shaft with parallel handle
Crank
Travel along a zigzag path;
The river zigzags through the countryside
Crank
Start by cranking;
Crank up the engine
Crank
Rotate with a crank
Crank
Fasten with a crank
Crank
Bend into the shape of a crank
Crank
(used of boats) inclined to heel over easily under sail
Common Curiosities
What is a crane used for?
A crane is used for lifting and moving heavy objects, primarily in construction and industrial sectors.
Do all cranes operate on the same principle?
While different types of cranes may have unique features, all operate on the principle of lifting using mechanical advantage.
Can a crank handle high torque?
Yes, cranks can be designed to handle high torque loads, especially in heavy machinery and engines.
Do cranks have standard sizes?
Cranks come in various sizes, but standards exist for applications like bicycles and engines.
What is the purpose of a crank?
A crank is used to convert rotational motion into a linear or reciprocating motion in various mechanical systems.
Can cranes move loads horizontally?
Yes, many cranes can move loads both vertically and horizontally.
Is a crank necessary in all engines?
Most traditional internal combustion engines and some types of steam engines use cranks, but not all engine types, such as electric motors, require them.
What types of cranes are there?
There are several types, including tower cranes, mobile cranes, and crawler cranes, each suited to different tasks.
Can cranes be used in maritime tasks?
Yes, there are specialized floating cranes used for maritime tasks, like shipbuilding and port cargo handling.
How does a crank impact mechanical performance?
A crank impacts performance by determining the force and speed at which motion is converted, affecting the efficiency and output of the system.
Is a crank the same as a camshaft?
No, a crank is a rotating lever that converts motion, while a camshaft is a different mechanical component used in engines to control valves.
Where are cranks commonly found?
Cranks are commonly found in engines, bicycles, and any mechanical system requiring conversion of motion.
How does a crank work in a bicycle?
The crank translates the rider's pedaling into rotational motion that turns the bike's chain and wheel.
Are all cranes fixed to one location?
No, while tower cranes are fixed, mobile cranes and crawler cranes can move to different locations.
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Written by
Urooj ArifUrooj is a skilled content writer at Ask Difference, known for her exceptional ability to simplify complex topics into engaging and informative content. With a passion for research and a flair for clear, concise writing, she consistently delivers articles that resonate with our diverse audience.
Edited by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
