• Cran

    Origin 1

    Gaelic.

    Alternative forms

    Full definition of cran

    Noun

    cran

    (plural crans or cran)
    1. (obsolete) a measure of herrings, either imprecise or sometimes legally specified; also rarely a barrel made to hold such a measure
      • 1800 Dec., Sir Richard Phillips, The Monthly magazine, Volume 10, No. 66, page 486: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.
      • 1960, Ewan MacColl, Singing the Fishing:... 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.

    Origin 2

    Noun

    cran

    (plural crans)
    1. (music) An embellishment played on the lowest note of a chanter of a bagpipe, consisting of a series of grace notes produced by rapid sequential lifting of the fingers of the lower hand.
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