cranking

Pluralcrankings

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of crank.

   By the second set, the band was really cranking, and nobody stayed in their seats.

   Cranking the engine for too long in cold weather can drain the battery.

   Note

   The -ing form carries every sense of the verb, so the sentence sorts them: the band was really cranking, with no object, means working at full output, while cranking the engine means turning it over to start it. As a gerund it keeps its object (cranking a stiff handle tires the arm), which is how it differs from the countable noun, the act itself with a plural.

2. 2
   handle turningnouncountable or uncountable

   The act of turning something with a crank, or of making an engine turn over in the same way when starting it.

   Let the starter motor rest for at least a minute between crankings.

   A few minutes of steady cranking raised the old drawbridge into place.

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