January 2023

Informally, a crank is a bad-tempered person or someone that supports bizarre causes or has strange ideas. A crank is also an arm or lever that makes a rotating part move in a machine. Therefore, to crank means…

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A fan is a device that produces a current of air. As a verb, to fan means ‘to…’

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A lodge is a house or cabin used by hunters or hikers as a temporary place to stay. Nowadays, in US English, a lodge is a hotel or motel, and also the meeting place of a certain organization and…

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To strike means ‘to hit someone,’ ‘to suddenly attack,’ and ‘to collide or crash into something’. Strike also means…

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A crop is a plant or its product, either while growing or when gathered, or the amount of yield produced in one season. It’s used figuratively to mean ‘a group of people or things that occur together.’ Crop is also a close cut of something, such as…

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To smear means ‘to spread an oily or wet substance on something,’ like we do with jam or butter on toast. Smear also means ‘to stain or spot with a wet or oily substance’ and ‘to blur by rubbing or by getting wet.’ Figuratively, to smear is…

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A rout is a defeat that is followed by a retreat and dispersal, usually a disorderly one, or more generally, any overwhelming defeat or disorderly group of people. As a verb, to rout means…. to defeat completely and to make a group disperse in a disorderly way. Rout has another unrelated meaning as a verb, ‘to dig up or turn over something’ like animals do with their snouts (a snout is the nose of animals like pigs). More generally, usually followed by out, it means ‘to find or get by searching or…

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