crane /kɹeɪn/noun 7verb 3forms 3 noun7 •Any bird of the family Gruidae, large birds with long legs and a long neck which is extended during flight. •a big machine that raises heavy things on a hook hanging from a long metal armLarge cranes were virtually non-existent in the areas I worked with this truck, so we jacked everything on and off[.] — 2000 •(dialect, US) Ardea herodias, the great blue heron. •An iron arm with horizontal motion, attached to the side or back of a fireplace for supporting kettles etc. over the fire. •A forked post or projecting bracket to support spars, etc.; generally used in pairs. •A siphon, or bent pipe, for drawing liquors out of a cask. •(no longer used) The cranium. verb3 •To extend (one's neck).and my bachelor's hearth is imbedded where by much craning of head and neck I can catch sight of a sycamore in the Square garden, — 1879 •To raise or lower with, or as if with, a crane.What engines, what instruments are used in craning up a soul, sunk below the centre, to the highest heavens. — 1693 •To pull up before a jump. formscraned · craning · cranes
