cran
Frequency: 2.16 in modern English
Meaning
noun
A measure of herrings, either imprecise or sometimes legally specified. It has oftentimes been about 37½ imperial gallons, or ~750 herrings on average (up to 1200 or even ~2500).
Obsolete
noun
An embellishment played on a chanter of a bagpipe or a tin whistle, consisting of a series of grace notes produced by rapid sequential lifting of the fingers.
noun
Alternative form of qiran.
name
Cranfield University, used especially following post-nominal letters indicating status as a graduate.
name
A river, Rivière du Cran (Cran River), in Le Domaine-du-Roy Regional County Municipality, Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region, Quebec, Canada, a tributary of the Ashuapmushuan River.
name
Acronym of Comprehensive R Archive Network.
Example Sentences
- "Very flattering indeed has been the success of the fishermen; and many boats have come in loaded, averaging thirty or forty crans each (every cran estimated at 1,000 herrings), and disposed of their cargoes at nine shillings per cran; but the price has been since raised to fifteen shillings."
- "His brother caught three hundred cran when the seas were lavish, / Threw the bleeders back in the sea and went upon the parish."
- "[…] And fish the knolls on the North Sea Holes And try your luck at the North Shields Gut With a catch of a hundred cran."
- "But I've fished a lifetime, boy and man, And the final trawl scarcely makes a cran."