Cam vs. Crank — What's the Difference?
Difference Between Cam and Crank
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Definitions
Cam
A cam is a rotating or sliding piece in a mechanical linkage used especially in transforming rotary motion into linear motion. It is often a part of a rotating wheel (e.g.
Crank
Turn the crankshaft of (an internal combustion engine) in order to start the engine
The starter motor struggled to crank the engine
Move the pitch lever into the normal range and crank up the engine
Cam
A projection on a rotating part in machinery, designed to make sliding contact with another part while rotating and impart reciprocal or variable motion to it.
Crank
Give a bend to (a shaft, bar, etc.)
Paddle styles also vary—long, short, cranked, etc.
Cam
A camera.
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Crank
Inject a narcotic drug
He's been cranking up on smack
Cam
A wheel that has a projecting part and is mounted on a rotating shaft to produce variable or reciprocating motion in another part.
Crank
A part of an axle or shaft bent out at right angles, for converting reciprocal to circular motion and vice versa
A long con rod which acts as a longer lever on the crank
Cam
Any of various similar devices having a rotating part of variable radius that interacts with another part to exert a variable force or resistance.
Crank
The drug methamphetamine.
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Cam
A turning or sliding piece which imparts motion to a rod, lever or block brought into sliding or rolling contact with it.
Crank
An eccentric person, especially one who is obsessed by a particular subject
I am used to getting crank calls from conspiracy theorists
When he first started to air his views, they labelled him a crank
Cam
A curved wedge, movable about an axis, used for forcing or clamping two pieces together.
Crank
A fanciful turn of speech.
Cam
A ridge or mound of earth.
Crank
(of a sailing ship) liable to heel over.
Cam
(climbing) A spring-loaded camming device, a spring-loaded device for effecting a temporary belay in a rock crevice.
Crank
A device for transmitting rotary motion, consisting of a handle or arm attached at right angles to a shaft.
Cam
(informal) Camera.
Crank
A clever turn of speech; a verbal conceit
Quips and cranks.
Cam
To go on webcam with someone.
Crank
A peculiar or eccentric idea or action.
Cam
A turning or sliding piece which, by the shape of its periphery or face, or a groove in its surface, imparts variable or intermittent motion to, or receives such motion from, a rod, lever, or block brought into sliding or rolling contact with it.
Crank
A grouchy person.
Cam
A ridge or mound of earth.
Crank
An eccentric person, especially one who is unduly zealous.
Cam
Crooked.
Crank
(Slang) Methamphetamine.
Cam
A river in east central England that flows past Cambridge to join the Ouse River
Crank
To start or operate (an engine, for example) by or as if by turning a handle.
Cam
A rotating disk shaped to convert circular into linear motion
Crank
To move or operate (a window, for example) by or as if by turning a handle.
Crank
To make into the shape of a crank; bend.
Crank
To provide with a handle that is used in turning.
Crank
To turn a handle.
Crank
To wind in a zigzagging course.
Crank
Of, being, or produced by an eccentric person
A crank letter.
A crank phone call.
Crank
Liable to capsize; unstable.
Crank
(slang) Strange, weird, odd.
Crank
Sick; unwell.
Crank
Liable to capsize because of poorly stowed cargo or insufficient ballast.
Crank
Full of spirit; brisk; lively; sprightly; overconfident; opinionated.
Crank
A bent piece of an axle or shaft, or an attached arm perpendicular, or nearly so, to the end of a shaft or wheel, used to impart a rotation to a wheel or other mechanical device; also used to change circular into reciprocating motion, or reciprocating into circular motion.
I grind my coffee by hand with a coffee grinder with a crank handle.
Crank
Clipping of crankshaft
Crank
The act of converting power into motion, by turning a crankshaft.
Yes, a crank was all it needed to start.
Give it a forceful crank.
Crank
(archaic) Any bend, turn, or winding, as of a passage.
Crank
(informal) An ill-tempered or nasty person.
Billy-Bob is a nasty old crank! He chased my cat away.
Crank
A twist or turn of the mind; caprice; whim;
Crank
A fit of temper or passion.
Crank
A person who is considered strange or odd by others. They may behave in unconventional ways.
John is a crank because he talks to himself.
Crank
A baseball fan.
Crank
(informal) An amateur in science or other technical subjects who persistently advocates flawed theories
That crank next door thinks he’s created cold fusion in his garage.
Crank
Synonym of methamphetamine.
Danny got abscesses from shooting all that bathtub crank.
Crank
(rare) A twist or turn in speech; word play consisting in a change of the form or meaning of a word.
Crank
(obsolete) A sick person; an invalid.
Crank
(slang) The penis.
Crank
(transitive) To turn by means of a crank.
Motorists had to crank their engine by hand.
Crank
(intransitive) To turn a crank.
He's been cranking all day and yet it refuses to crank.
Crank
To turn.
He's been cranking all day and yet it refuses to crank.
Crank
(transitive) To cause to spin via other means, as though turned by a crank.
I turn the key and crank the engine; yet it doesn't turn over
Crank it up!
Crank
(intransitive) To act in a cranky manner; to behave unreasonably and irritably, especially through complaining.
Quit cranking about your spilt milk!
Crank
(intransitive) To be running at a high level of output or effort.
By one hour into the shift, the boys were really cranking.
Crank
To run with a winding course; to double; to crook; to wind and turn.
Crank
A bent portion of an axle, or shaft, or an arm keyed at right angles to the end of a shaft, by which motion is imparted to or received from it; also used to change circular into reciprocating motion, or reciprocating into circular motion. See Bell crank.
Crank
Any bend, turn, or winding, as of a passage.
So many turning cranks these have, so many crooks.
Crank
A twist or turn in speech; a conceit consisting in a change of the form or meaning of a word.
Quips, and cranks, and wanton wiles.
Crank
A twist or turn of the mind; caprice; whim; crotchet; also, a fit of temper or passion.
Violent of temper; subject to sudden cranks.
Crank
A person full of crotchets; one given to fantastic or impracticable projects; one whose judgment is perverted in respect to a particular matter.
Crank
A sick person; an invalid.
Thou art a counterfeit crank, a cheater.
Crank
Sick; infirm.
Crank
Liable to careen or be overset, as a ship when she is too narrow, or has not sufficient ballast, or is loaded too high, to carry full sail.
Crank
Full of spirit; brisk; lively; sprightly; overconfident; opinionated.
He who was, a little before, bedrid, . . . was now crank and lusty.
If you strong electioners did not think you were among the elect, you would not be so crank about it.
Crank
To run with a winding course; to double; to crook; to wind and turn.
See how this river comes me cranking in.
Crank
A bad-tempered person
Crank
A whimsically eccentric person
Crank
Amphetamine used in the form of a crystalline hydrochloride; used as a stimulant to the nervous system and as an appetite suppressant
Crank
A hand tool consisting of a rotating shaft with parallel handle
Crank
Travel along a zigzag path;
The river zigzags through the countryside
Crank
Start by cranking;
Crank up the engine
Crank
Rotate with a crank
Crank
Fasten with a crank
Crank
Bend into the shape of a crank
Crank
(used of boats) inclined to heel over easily under sail
