[App. onomatopæic, having associations with clank, and with croak, creak; cf. CLANK v. Cf. also north. dial. CRONK to croak.] intr. To make a harsh, jarring or grating sound. (Also quasi-trans. with cognate obj.)
1827. Clare, Sheph. Cal., March, 31. The solitary crane … Cranking a jarring melancholy cry.
1847–78. Halliwell, Crank … (5) to creak. North.
1852. D. M. Moir, Poems, Snow, xiv. Voiceless, except where, cranking, rings, The skater’s curve along, The demon of the ice.
