A variant or dialectal form of 'crane' (a large wading bird) or an archaic term for a mechanical lifting device.
An obsolete or dialectal spelling of 'crane,' from Old English cran. It appears in some historical texts and place names, representing an older pronunciation or regional variation.
Old spelling variations like 'crain' for 'crane' show us how fluid spelling was before dictionaries standardized words—Shakespeare could spell the same word multiple ways in one poem.
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