cran

noun

1. (obsolete)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).

   “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.”

2. (broadly, obsolete, rare)A barrel made to hold such a measure.
3. 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.
4. (alt-of, alternative)Alternative form of qiran.

name

1. Cranfield University, used especially following post-nominal letters indicating status as a graduate.
2. 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.
3. (abbreviation, acronym, alt-of)Acronym of Comprehensive R Archive Network.