%rank%

n. [ Prov. of Celtic origin; cf. L. brance, brace, the Gallic name of a particularly white kind of corn. ] Buckwheat. [ Local, Eng. ] Halliwell. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To hold up and toss the head; -- applied to horses as spurning the bit. [ Scot. & Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To prance; to caper. [ Scot. ] Jamieson. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ Cf. Gael. brangus, brangas, a sort of pillory, Ir. brancas halter, or D. pranger fetter. ] 1. A sort of bridle with wooden side pieces. [ Scot. & Prov. Eng. ] Jamieson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A scolding bridle, an instrument formerly used for correcting scolding women. It was an iron frame surrounding the head and having a triangular piece entering the mouth of the scold. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. branc-ursine, branch-ursine, fr. LL. branca claw + L. ursinus belonging to a bear (fr. ursus bear), i. e., bear's claw, because its leaves resemble the claws of a bear. Cf. Branch. ] (Bot.) Bear's-breech, or Acanthus. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. cranke; akin to E. cringe, cringle, crinkle, and to crank, a., the root meaning, probably, “to turn, twist.” See Cringe. ] 1. (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. See Bell crank. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Any bend, turn, or winding, as of a passage. [ 1913 Webster ]

So many turning cranks these have, so many crooks. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A twist or turn in speech; a conceit consisting in a change of the form or meaning of a word. [ 1913 Webster ]

Quips, and cranks, and wanton wiles. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A twist or turn of the mind; caprice; whim; crotchet; also, a fit of temper or passion. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Violent of temper; subject to sudden cranks. Carlyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A person full of crotchets; one given to fantastic or impracticable projects; one whose judgment is perverted in respect to a particular matter. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

6. A sick person; an invalid. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Thou art a counterfeit crank, a cheater. Burton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Crank axle (Mach.), a driving axle formed with a crank or cranks, as in some kinds of locomotives. --
Crank pin (Mach.), the cylindrical piece which forms the handle, or to which the connecting rod is attached, at the end of a crank, or between the arms of a double crank. --
Crank shaft, a shaft bent into a crank, or having a crank fastened to it, by which it drives or is driven. --
Crank wheel, a wheel acting as a crank, or having a wrist to which a connecting rod is attached. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ AS. cranc weak; akin to Icel. krangr, D. & G. krank sick, weak (cf. D. krengen to careen). Cf. Crank, n. ] 1. Sick; infirm. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (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. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Full of spirit; brisk; lively; sprightly; overconfident; opinionated. [ 1913 Webster ]

He who was, a little before, bedrid, . . . was now crank and lusty. Udall. [ 1913 Webster ]

If you strong electioners did not think you were among the elect, you would not be so crank about it. Mrs. Stowe. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ See Crank, n. ] To run with a winding course; to double; to crook; to wind and turn. [ 1913 Webster ]

See how this river comes me cranking in. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) A small European woodpecker (Picus minor). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. the housing for a crankshaft and connecting parts in an internal-combustion engine. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Formed with, or having, a bend or crank; as, a cranked axle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Crankness. Lowell. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A bend or turn; a twist; a crinkle. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Cf. Crinkle. ] To break into bends, turns, or angles; to crinkle. [ 1913 Webster ]

Old Veg's stream . . . drew her humid train aslope,
Crankling her banks. J. Philips. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To bend, turn, or wind. [ 1913 Webster ]

Along the crankling path. Drayton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. (Naut.) Liability to be overset; -- said of a ship or other vessel. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Sprightliness; vigor; health. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Full of spirit; crank. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Addicted to crotchets and whims; unreasonable in opinions; crotchety. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Unsteady; easy to upset; crank. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Cf. Derange. ] 1. To degrade from rank. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To throw out of rank or into confusion. Decker. [ 1913 Webster ]

imp. of Drink. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. 3d Drake. ] Wild oats, or darnel grass. See Drake a plant. [ Prov. Eng. ] Halliwell. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Pref. en- + rank. ] To place in ranks or in order. [ R. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The first rank; the front. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. franc. ] A pigsty. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To shut up in a frank or sty; to pen up; hence, to cram; to fatten. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) The common heron; -- so called from its note. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Frank, a. ] The privilege of sending letters or other mail matter, free of postage, or without charge; also, the sign, mark, or signature denoting that a letter or other mail matter is to go free of postage. Called also the franking privilege. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

I have said so much, that, if I had not a frank, I must burn my letter and begin again. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. franc. See Frank, a. ] 1. (Ethnol.) A member of one of the German tribes that in the fifth century overran and conquered Gaul, and established the kingdom of France. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A native or inhabitant of Western Europe; a European; -- a term used in the Levant. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A French coin. See Franc. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Compar. franker superl. frankest. ] [ F. franc free, frank, L. Francus a Frank, fr. OHG. Franko the name of a Germanic people on the Rhine, who afterward founded the French monarchy; cf. AS. franca javelin, Icel. frakka. Cf. Franc, French, a., Franchise, n. ] 1. Unbounded by restrictions, limitations, etc.; free. [ R. ] “It is of frank gift.” Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Free in uttering one's real sentiments; not reserved; using no disguise; candid; ingenuous; as, a frank nature, conversation, manner, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Liberal; generous; profuse. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Frank of civilities that cost them nothing. L'Estrange. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Unrestrained; loose; licentious; -- used in a bad sense. Spenser.

Syn. -- Ingenuous; candid; artless; plain; open; unreserved; undisguised; sincere. See Candid, Ingenuous. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. franked p. pr. & vb. n. franking. ] 1. To send by public conveyance free of expense. Dickens. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To extempt from charge for postage, as a letter, package, or packet, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. franc free + Norm. F. almoigne alma, for almosne, F. aumône. See Frank, a., and Almoner. ] (Eng. Law) A tenure by which a religious corporation holds lands given to them and their successors forever, usually on condition of praying for the soul of the donor and his heirs; -- called also tenure by free alms. Burrill. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Frank free + chase. ] (Eng. Law) The liberty or franchise of having a chase; free chase. Burrill. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Frank free + fee. ] (Eng. Law) A species of tenure in fee simple, being the opposite of ancient demesne, or copyhold. Burrill. [ 1913 Webster ]

A black pigment used in copperplate printing, prepared by burning vine twigs, the lees of wine, etc. McElrath. [ 1913 Webster ]

A small cooked sausage of beef or beef and pork, usually 5 to 6 inches, sometimes as long as 12 inches in length; called also frankforter, frankfort, frankfurt. It is commonly eaten on a roll, called a hot dog bun.
Syn. -- wiener, hot dog{ 1 }. [ PJC ]

n. [ OF. franc free, pure + encens incense. ] A fragrant, aromatic resin, or gum resin, burned as an incense in religious rites or for medicinal fumigation. The best kinds now come from East Indian trees, of the genus Boswellia; a commoner sort, from the Norway spruce (Abies excelsa) and other coniferous trees. The frankincense of the ancient Jews is still unidentified. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Carp.) A method of forming a joint at the intersection of window-sash bars, by cutting away only enough wood to show a miter. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Like, or pertaining to, the Franks. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Frank free + law. ] (Eng. Law) The liberty of being sworn in courts, as a juror or witness; one of the ancient privileges of a freeman; free and common law; -- an obsolete expression signifying substantially the same as the American expression civil rights. Abbot. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. frankelein; cf. LL. franchilanus. See Frank, a. ] An English freeholder, or substantial householder. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

The franklin, a small landholder of those days. Sir J. Stephen. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or pertaining to Benjamin Franklin. [ 1913 Webster ]

Franklinic electricity, electricity produced by friction; called also static electricity. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Min.) A kind of mineral of the spinel group. [ 1913 Webster ]

A kind of open stove introduced by Benjamin Franklin, the peculiar feature of which was that a current of heated air was directly supplied to the room from an air box; -- now applied to other varieties of open stoves. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a frank manner; freely. [ 1913 Webster ]

Very frankly he confessed his treasons. Shak.

Syn. -- Openly; ingenuously; plainly; unreservedly; undisguisedly; sincerely; candidly; artlessly; freely; readily; unhesitatingly; liberally; willingly. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Frank free + marriage. ] (Eng. Law) A certain tenure in tail special; an estate of inheritance given to a man his wife (the wife being of the blood of the donor), and descendible to the heirs of their two bodies begotten. [ Obs. ] Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being frank; candor; openess; ingenuousness; fairness; liberality. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Frank free + pledge. ] (O. Eng. Law) (a) A pledge or surety for the good behavior of freemen, -- each freeman who was a member of an ancient decennary, tithing, or friborg, in England, being a pledge for the good conduct of the others, for the preservation of the public peace; a free surety. (b) The tithing itself. Bouvier. [ 1913 Webster ]

The servants of the crown were not, as now, bound in frankpledge for each other. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. having a rank above that of another.
Syn. -- ranking(prenominal), superior. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. inferior in rank or status.
Syn. -- junior-grade, inferior, lower, lowly, petty(prenominal), secondary, subaltern, subordinate. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. To exceed in rank; hence, to take precedence of. [ 1913 Webster ]