crane
verb/kreɪn/
/kreɪn/
[intransitive, transitive]Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they crane | /kreɪn/ /kreɪn/ |
| he / she / it cranes | /kreɪnz/ /kreɪnz/ |
| past simple craned | /kreɪnd/ /kreɪnd/ |
| past participle craned | /kreɪnd/ /kreɪnd/ |
| -ing form craning | /ˈkreɪnɪŋ/ /ˈkreɪnɪŋ/ |
- to lean or stretch over something in order to see something better; to stretch your neck
- (+ adv./prep.) People were craning out of the windows and waving.
- crane something She craned her neck to get a better view of the stage.
Oxford Collocations DictionaryCrane is used with these nouns as the object:- head
- neck
Word Originverb Middle English: figuratively from crane the bird (the same sense development occurred in the related German Kran and Dutch kraan, and in French grue). The verb dates from the late 16th cent.Definitions on the go
Look up any word in the dictionary offline, anytime, anywhere with the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app.
Check pronunciation:
crane