Definition

1. Noun:
   • A small, narrow opening, crack, or fissure: A "cranny" is a tiny gap or crevice, often found in a hard surface like a rock or a wall.
   • A long, narrow depression or groove in a surface: It can also refer to an elongated, shallow indentation.

Usage and Examples

• Noun:
  • The lizard disappeared into a cranny in the stone wall.
  • Sunlight filtered through the crannies in the old wooden shutters.
  • He searched every cranny of the antique desk for the missing key.

Advanced Usage

• "Every nook and cranny": This common idiom means every part of a place, especially every small or hidden part.
  • She cleaned every nook and cranny of the house before the guests arrived.

Variants and Related Words

• Crannied (adj): Having crannies; full of small cracks or openings.
  • The crannied surface of the cliff was home to many plants.

Synonyms

• Crevice: A narrow opening or fissure, especially in a rock or wall.
• Fissure: A long, narrow opening or line of breakage.
• Chink: A narrow opening, typically one that admits light.
• Crack: A line on the surface of something along which it has split without breaking apart.

Antonyms

• Expanse: A wide, continuous area of something.
• Solid: Firm and stable in shape; not liquid or fluid, implying no openings.

Notes on Meaning

• The word "cranny" strongly implies a sense of smallness, narrowness, and often hiddenness. It is rarely used for large openings.
• It is most frequently used in its plural form ("crannies") or within the fixed idiom "every nook and cranny."

Noun

1. a small opening or crevice (especially in a rock face or wall)
2. a long narrow depression in a surface