(of a machine, etc.) Not in good working condition; shaky.
1914, Theodore Roosevelt, , The River of Doubt,We had seven canoes, all of them dugouts. One was small, one was cranky, and two were old, waterlogged, and leaky. The other three were good.
Grouchy, irritable; easily upset.He got home from a long day at work tired and cranky.
1934 December, Robert E. Howard, , in ,Uncle Esau is as cranky as hell, and a peculiar old duck, but I think he'll like a fine upstanding young man as big as you be.
