to work hard, studiously, and/or without interruption, as in: “I was cranking on that analysis for six hours last night”; used when ambiguities have been sufficiently resolved and the next step is to execute along some determined course of action; the term confers on the worker the attributes of a machine, which goes through its motions relentlessly, without halt or complaint, and evokes the crankshaft of an engine, which spins continuously and rapidly as it operates; used most often for tasks that require attention to detail but are not intellectually rigorous; compare to riff, which refers to more casual attempts to address an issue