# crane

> English word · Noun · IPA /kɹeɪn/ · frequency rank #8,021

## Definitions
1. Any bird of the family Gruidae, large birds with long legs and a long neck which is extended during flight.
2. Ardea herodias, the great blue heron.
3. A mechanical lifting machine or device, often used for lifting heavy loads for industrial or construction purposes.
4. An iron arm with horizontal motion, attached to the side or back of a fireplace for supporting kettles etc. over the fire.
5. A siphon, or bent pipe, for drawing liquors out of a cask.
6. A forked post or projecting bracket to support spars, etc.; generally used in pairs.

## Etymology
From Middle English crane, from Old English cran (“crane”), from Proto-West Germanic *kran, *kranō, from Proto-Germanic *kranô (“crane”), from Proto-Indo-European *gerh₂- (“to cry hoarsely”).
Cognate with Scots cran (“crane”), Dutch kraan (“crane”), German Low German Kroon (“crane”), German Kran (“crane”). The mechanical devices are named from their likeness to the bird.

## Easily confused with
- **crap** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crane-vs-crap)
- **Cree** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crane-vs-cree)
- **cray** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crane-vs-cray)
- **cyan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crane-vs-cyan)
- **crazy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crane-vs-crazy)
- **crime** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crane-vs-crime)
- **crash** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crane-vs-crash)
- **crude** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crane-vs-crude)
- **crawl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crane-vs-crawl)
- **crank** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crane-vs-crank)
- **crate** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crane-vs-crate)
- **crave** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crane-vs-crave)
- **crore** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crane-vs-crore)
- **craze** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crane-vs-craze)
- **Crete** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crane-vs-crete)
- **crass** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crane-vs-crass)
- **Crewe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crane-vs-crewe)
- **craps** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crane-vs-craps)
- **crème** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crane-vs-creme)
- **crony** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crane-vs-crony)

## Common misspellings (6)
`ccrane`, `craen`, `cranne`, `crnae`, `crrane`, `rcane`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/crane