Wordul · all words

noun · 1 syllable · /kreɪn/

CRANE

What does "CRANE" mean?

A tall wading bird with long legs and neck, or a machine for lifting heavy loads.

Meanings

  1. A large long-legged, long-necked wading bird of the family Gruidae. A pair of cranes danced in the wetland at dawn.
  2. A tall machine with a projecting arm for lifting and moving heavy objects. A crane swung the steel beam into place atop the tower.
  3. To stretch out one's neck to see better. She craned her neck to catch a glimpse of the parade.

Did you know?

  • The lifting machine is named after the bird: its long, reaching arm looked like a crane's neck - a comparison so natural that Greek and German also named the device after the bird.

Word origin

From Old English 'cran' (the bird); the machine was named after the bird because its long, jointed arm resembles a crane's outstretched neck - a metaphor found in several languages.

Remember it

Both CRANES reach high on a long neck - the bird in the marsh and the machine on the skyline are named the same for that very stretch.

A little poem

Steel neck, feathered neck-
both lean out over the world
to lift, or to feed.

haiku

Wordplay

  • Why did the construction worker love birdwatching? Both jobs were about a good crane.

What it teaches

We name our machines after the living things they imitate; even our steel still dreams of wings.

Quick facts

What does CRANE mean?

A tall wading bird with long legs and neck, or a machine for lifting heavy loads.

Is CRANE a valid word?

Yes — CRANE is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.

How many letters is CRANE?

CRANE has 5 letters and 1 syllable.

Where does CRANE come from?

From Old English 'cran' (the bird); the machine was named after the bird because its long, jointed arm resembles a crane's outstretched neck - a metaphor found in several languages.

What can CRANE teach us?

We name our machines after the living things they imitate; even our steel still dreams of wings.

How players do

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