A handle bent at right angles used to turn or rotate machinery, or a person with unusual or obsessive ideas.
From Old English 'cran' and Middle Dutch 'krank,' possibly from Proto-Germanic *krank-, related to the concept of something being twisted or bent.
Before electric motors, every machine from car engines to well pumps used hand cranks—the bent-handle design is a perfect engineering example of how a simple lever multiplies force, making heavy work possible for human arms.
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