hook

¹ American  

[hook] / hʊk /

noun

1. a curved or angular piece of metal or other hard substance for catching, pulling, holding, or suspending something.

2. a fishhook.

3. anything that catches; snare; trap.

4. something that attracts attention or serves as an enticement.

   The product is good but we need a sales hook to get people to buy it.

5. something having a sharp curve, bend, or angle at one end, as a mark or symbol.

6. a sharp curve or angle in the length or course of anything.

7. a curved arm of land jutting into the water; a curved peninsula.

   the neighborhood of Red Hook, Brooklyn, situated on a peninsula in upper New York Bay.

8. a recurved and pointed organ or appendage of an animal or plant.

9. a small curved catch inserted into a loop to form a clothes fastener.

10. Sports.

    1. the path described by a ball, as in baseball, bowling, or golf, that curves in a direction opposite to the throwing hand or to the side of the ball from which it was struck.

    2. a ball describing such a path.

11. Boxing.  a short, circular punch delivered with the elbow bent.

12. Music.

    1. Also called flag, pennant.  a stroke or line attached to the stem of eighth notes, sixteenth notes, etc.

    2. an appealing melodic phrase, orchestral ornament, refrain, etc., often important to a popular song's commercial success.

13. Metalworking.  an accidental short bend formed in a piece of bar stock during rolling.

14. Slang.  hooks, hands or fingers.

    Get your hooks off that cake!

15. Underworld Slang.  a pickpocket.

16. Also called deck hook.  Nautical.  a triangular plate or knee that binds together the stringers and plating at each end of a vessel.

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verb (used with object)

1. to seize, fasten, suspend from, pierce, or catch hold of and draw with or as if with a hook.

2. to catch (fish) with a fishhook.

3. Slang.  to steal or seize by stealth.

4. Informal.  to catch or trick by artifice; snare.

5. (of a bull or other horned animal) to catch on the horns or attack with the horns.

6. to catch hold of and draw (loops of yarn) through cloth with or as if with a hook.

7. to make (a rug, garment, etc.) in this fashion.

8. Sports.  to hit or throw (a ball) so that a hook results.

9. Boxing.  to deliver a hook with.

   The champion hooked a right to his opponent's jaw.

10. Rugby.  to push (a ball) backward with the foot in scrummage from the front line.

11. to make hook-shaped; crook.

verb (used without object)

1. to become attached or fastened by or as if by a hook.

2. to curve or bend like a hook.

3. Sports.

   1. (of a player) to hook the ball.

   2. (of a ball) to describe a hook in course.

4. Slang.  to depart hastily.

   We'd better hook for home.

verb phrase

1. hook up

   1. to fasten with a hook or hooks.

   2. to assemble or connect, as the components of a machine.

      They helped me hook up my new home security system.

   3. to connect to a central source, as of power or water.

      The house hasn't been hooked up to the city's water system yet.

   4. Informal.  to join, meet, or become associated with.

      He never had a decent job until he hooked up with this company.

   5. Informal.  to have casual sex or a romantic date without a long-term commitment.

      He doesn't know her very well, but he hooked up with her a couple of times.

   6. Slang.  to supply something scarce or illicit to: The concert is sold out, but my sister knows a guy in the band, so we’re hoping she can hook us up with some tickets.

      My supply of painkillers is totally dry—do you know somebody who can hook me up?

      The concert is sold out, but my sister knows a guy in the band, so we’re hoping she can hook us up with some tickets.

idioms

1. hook it,  to run away; depart; flee.

   He hooked it when he saw the truant officer.

2. on the hook,

   1. obliged; committed: involved.

      He's already on the hook for $10,000.

   2. subjected to a delaying tactic; waiting.

      We've had him on the hook for two weeks now.

3. get / give the hook,  to receive or subject to a dismissal.

   The rumor is that he got the hook.

4. hook, line, and sinker,  entirely; completely.

   He fell for the story—hook, line, and sinker.

5. by hook or by crook,  by any means, whether just or unjust, legal or illegal. Also by hook or crook

6. on one's own hook,  on one's own initiative or responsibility; independently.

7. off the hook,

   1. out of trouble; released from some difficulty.

      This time there was no one around to get him off the hook.

   2. free of obligation.

      Her brother paid all her bills and got her off the hook.

   3. Slang.  extremely or shockingly excellent.

      Wow, that song is off the hook!

hook ² American  

[hook] / hʊk /

verb (used without object)

1. Slang.  to work as a prostitute.

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hook British  

/ hʊk /

noun

1. a piece of material, usually metal, curved or bent and used to suspend, catch, hold, or pull something

2. short for fish-hook

3. a trap or snare

4. something that attracts or is intended to be an attraction

5. something resembling a hook in design or use

6. 1. a sharp bend or angle in a geological formation, esp a river

   2. a sharply curved spit of land

7. boxing a short swinging blow delivered from the side with the elbow bent

8. cricket a shot in which the ball is hit square on the leg side with the bat held horizontally

9. golf a shot that causes the ball to swerve sharply from right to left

10. surfing the top of a breaking wave

11. Also called: hookcheck.  ice hockey the act of hooking an opposing player

12. music a stroke added to the stem of a written or printed note to indicate time values shorter than a crotchet

13. a catchy musical phrase in a pop song

14. another name for a sickle

15. a nautical word for anchor

16. by any means

17. slang  to be dismissed from employment

18. informal  completely

    he fell for it hook, line, and sinker

19. 1. slang  out of danger; free from obligation or guilt

    2. (of a telephone receiver) not on the support, so that incoming calls cannot be received

20. slang  on one's own initiative

21. slang

    1. waiting

    2. in a dangerous or difficult situation

22. slang  to leave

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verb

1. (often foll by up) to fasten or be fastened with or as if with a hook or hooks

2. (tr) to catch (something, such as a fish) on a hook

3. to curve like or into the shape of a hook

4. (tr) (of bulls, elks, etc) to catch or gore with the horns

5. (tr) to make (a rug) by hooking yarn through a stiff fabric backing with a special instrument

6. to cut (grass or herbage) with a sickle

   to hook down weeds

7. boxing to hit (an opponent) with a hook

8. ice hockey to impede (an opposing player) by catching hold of him with the stick

9. golf to play (a ball) with a hook

10. rugby to obtain and pass (the ball) backwards from a scrum to a member of one's team, using the feet

11. cricket to play (a ball) with a hook

12. informal  (tr) to trick

13. (tr) a slang word for steal

14. slang  to run or go quickly away

hook More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing hook

• by hook or crook
• off the hook
• on one's own account (hook)

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Other Word Forms

• hookless adjective
• hooklike adjective

Etymology

Origin of hook¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English hoke, Old English hōc; cognate with Dutch hoek “hook, angle, corner”; akin to German Haken, Old Norse haki

Origin of hook¹

First recorded in 1955–60; back formation from hooker ¹

Example Sentences

One investor concern, he noted, is that the company sits on “significant long-lived lease obligations” and would likely still be on the hook for many of them regardless of how the AI scene shakes out.

From MarketWatch

By total cash spending in 2025, Minnesota is on the hook for $345.6 million on this year’s team, according to salary tracking website Over the Cap.

From The Wall Street Journal

But that one-year crypto surge—and the meme-stock mania that happened around the same time—got a generation of troops hooked on investing.

From The Wall Street Journal

On the game’s opening possession, Betts received a pass, took one dribble and pivoted to bank in a jump hook for the first basket.

From Los Angeles Times

It was far from a technical showcase at Derby Vaillant Live arena, with frequent grappling and clinching, but the contest sparked into life when TKV rocked Clarke with a heavy left hook in the 11th.

From BBC

Related Words

• fasten
• fix
• pin