hook

1
[ hook ]
See synonyms for: hookhookedhooking on Thesaurus.com

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

  1. anything that catches; snare; trap.

  2. 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.

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

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

  5. 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.

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

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

  8. Sports.

    • 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.

    • a ball describing such a path.

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

  10. Music.

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

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

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

  12. hooks, Slang. hands or fingers: Get your hooks off that cake!

  13. Underworld Slang. a pickpocket.

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

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.

  1. Slang. to steal or seize by stealth.

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

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

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

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

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

  7. Boxing. to deliver a hook with: The champion hooked a right to his opponent's jaw.

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

  9. 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.

  1. Sports.

    • (of a player) to hook the ball.

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

  2. Slang. to depart hastily: We'd better hook for home.

Verb Phrases
  1. hook up,

    • to fasten with a hook or hooks.

    • to assemble or connect, as the components of a machine: They helped me hook up my new home security system.

    • 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.

    • Informal. to join, meet, or become associated with: He never had a decent job until he hooked up with this company.

    • 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.

    • Slang. to supply something scarce or illicit to: 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 about hook

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

  2. get / give the hook, Informal. to receive or subject to a dismissal: The rumor is that he got the hook.

  1. hook it, Slang. to run away; depart; flee: He hooked it when he saw the truant officer.

  2. hook, line, and sinker, Informal. entirely; completely: He fell for the story—hook, line, and sinker.

  3. off the hook,

    • out of trouble; released from some difficulty: This time there was no one around to get him off the hook.

    • free of obligation: Her brother paid all her bills and got her off the hook.

    • Slang. extremely or shockingly excellent: Wow, that song is off the hook!

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

  5. on the hook, Slang.

    • obliged; committed: involved: He's already on the hook for $10,000.

    • subjected to a delaying tactic; waiting: We've had him on the hook for two weeks now.

Origin of hook

1
First recorded before 900; Middle English hoke, Old English hōc; cognate with Dutch hoek “hook, angle, corner”; akin to German Haken, Old Norse haki

Other words from hook

  • hookless, adjective
  • hooklike, adjective

Words that may be confused with hook

Words Nearby hook

Other definitions for hook (2 of 2)

hook2
[ hook ]

verb (used without object)
  1. Slang. to work as a prostitute.

Origin of hook

2
First recorded in 1955–60; back formation from hooker1

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use hook in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for hook

hook

/ (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

  1. a trap or snare

  2. mainly US something that attracts or is intended to be an attraction

  3. something resembling a hook in design or use

    • a sharp bend or angle in a geological formation, esp a river

    • a sharply curved spit of land

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

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

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

  7. surfing the top of a breaking wave

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

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

  10. a catchy musical phrase in a pop song

  11. another name for a sickle

  12. a nautical word for anchor

  13. by hook or crook or by hook or by crook by any means

  14. get the hook US and Canadian slang to be dismissed from employment

  15. hook, line, and sinker informal completely: he fell for it hook, line, and sinker

  16. off the hook

    • slang out of danger; free from obligation or guilt

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

  17. on one's own hook slang, mainly US on one's own initiative

  18. on the hook slang

    • waiting

    • in a dangerous or difficult situation

  19. sling one's hook British slang to leave

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

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

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

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

  4. (tr often foll by down) to cut (grass or herbage) with a sickle: to hook down weeds

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

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

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

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

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

  10. (tr) informal to trick

  11. (tr) a slang word for steal

  12. hook it slang to run or go quickly away

Origin of hook

1
Old English hōc; related to Middle Dutch hōk, Old Norse haki

Derived forms of hook

  • hookless, adjective
  • hooklike, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with hook

hook

In addition to the idioms beginning with hook

  • hook or crook
  • hook up

also see:

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

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.