Crank
A Dictionary of Law · William C. Anderson · 1889
A Dictionary of Law
Has no necessary defamatory meaning, any more than to say of one that he is capricious or subject to vagaries or whims. 3 Does not necessarily imply that a man has been guilty of a crime, nor tend to subject him to ridicule or contempt. If the word has such import it should at least be averred and proven.'