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• hood
  hood

  noun

  a soft or flexible covering for the head and neck, either separate or attached to a cloak, coat, or the like.
• 'hood
  'hood

  noun

  a neighborhood, especially an urban neighborhood inhabited predominantly by African Americans of low socioeconomic status.
• Hood
  Hood

  noun

  John Bell, 1831–79, Confederate general in the U.S. Civil War.
• -hood
  -hood

  a native English suffix denoting state, condition, character, nature, etc., or a body of persons of a particular character or class, formerly used in the formation of nouns: childhood; likelihood; knighthood; priesthood .

hood

¹ American  

[hood] / hʊd /

noun

1. a soft or flexible covering for the head and neck, either separate or attached to a cloak, coat, or the like.

2. something resembling or suggesting such a covering, especially in shape, as certain petals or sepals.

3. the hinged, movable part of an automobile body covering the engine.

4. British. the roof of a carriage.

5. a metal cover or canopy for a stove, ventilator, etc.

6. Falconry. a cover for the entire head of a hawk, used when the bird is not in pursuit of game.

7. an ornamental ruffle or fold on the back of the shoulders of an academic gown, jurist's robe, etc.

8. a crest or band of color on the head of certain birds and animals.

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verb (used with object)

• hoods,
  present (3rd person singular)
• hooded,
  past participle,  past
• hooding
  present participle

1. to furnish with a hood.

2. to cover with or as if with a hood.

hood ² American  

[hood, hood] / hʊd, hud /

noun

Slang.

1. a hoodlum.

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'hood ³ American  

[hood] / hʊd /

Or hood

noun

Slang.

1. a neighborhood, especially an urban neighborhood inhabited predominantly by African Americans of low socioeconomic status.

   It’s hard for these kids to break the cycle of poverty and get out of the 'hood.

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Hood ⁴ American  

[hood] / hʊd /

noun

1. John Bell, 1831–79, Confederate general in the U.S. Civil War.

2. Raymond Mathewson 1881–1934, U.S. architect.

3. Robin. Robin Hood.

4. Thomas, 1799–1845, English poet and humorist.

5. Mount, a volcanic peak in N Oregon, in the Cascade Range. 11,253 feet (3,430 meters).

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-hood ⁵ American  

1. a native English suffix denoting state, condition, character, nature, etc., or a body of persons of a particular character or class, formerly used in the formation of nouns: childhood; likelihood; knighthood; priesthood .

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hood ¹ British  

/ hʊd /

noun

1. a loose head covering either attached to a cloak or coat or made as a separate garment

2. something resembling this in shape or use

3. the US and Canadian name for bonnet

4. the folding roof of a convertible car

5. a hoodlike garment worn over an academic gown, indicating its wearer's degree and university

6. falconry a close-fitting cover, placed over the head and eyes of a falcon to keep it quiet when not hunting

7. biology a structure or marking, such as the fold of skin on the head of a cobra, that covers or appears to cover the head or some similar part

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verb

1. (tr) to cover or provide with or as if with a hood

Hood ² British  

/ hʊd /

noun

1. See Robin Hood

2. Samuel, 1st Viscount. 1724–1816, British admiral. He fought successfully against the French during the American Revolution and the French Revolutionary Wars

3. Thomas. 1799–1845, British poet and humorist: his work includes protest poetry, such as The Song of the Shirt (1843) and The Bridge of Sighs (1844)

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-hood ³ British  

suffix

1. indicating state or condition of being

   manhood

   adulthood

2. indicating a body of persons

   knighthood

   priesthood

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'hood ⁴ British  

/ hʊd /

noun

1. slang short for neighbourhood

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hood ⁵ British  

/ hʊd /

noun

1. slang short for hoodlum

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Usage

What does -hood mean? The suffix -hood is used to indicate “a state of being” or "a group of a particular characteristic or class." It is often used in a variety of technical and everyday terms. The form -hood comes from Old English hād, meaning “condition” or “rank.” Similar suffixes in Latin include -itās and -tūdō, both of which indicate a state of being and are the sources of the English suffixes -ity and -tude. Check out our entries for both suffixes to learn how frequently they appear.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• hoodless
  adjective
• hoodlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• hooding
  present
• hooded
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• hood
  simple
• hoods
  simple
• have hooded
  perfect
• has hooded
  perfect
• am hooding
  progressive
• are hooding
  progressive
• is hooding
  progressive
• have been hooding
  perfect progressive
• has been hooding
  perfect progressive

Past

• hooded
  simple
• had hooded
  perfect
• was hooding
  progressive
• were hooding
  progressive
• had been hooding
  perfect progressive

Future

• will hood
  simple
• will have hooded
  perfect
• will be hooding
  progressive
• will have been hooding
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of hood¹

First recorded before 900, in 1925–30 hood ¹ for def. 3 (an Americanism); Middle English hode, Old English hōd; cognate with Old Frisian hōde, Dutch hoed, German Hut hat

Origin of hood²

First recorded in 1925–30; by shortening

Origin of 'hood³

First recorded in 1965–70; African American Vernacular English; by shortening

Origin of -hood⁵

Middle English -hode, -hod, Old English -hād (cognate with German -heit ), special use of hād condition, state, order, quality, rank

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Explanation

A hood is a protective covering. It could be a car hood protecting the engine or your car or it could be the hood on your coat protecting your noggin. Your favorite sweatshirt might have a hood, as well as your fur-lined winter coat and your insulated hood for scuba diving. Other things with a similar protective quality are also called hoods, like the metal vent cover over your stove, the cover on your car's engine, and the cap-like plant sections that cover vulnerable parts. One of the most famous hoods in literature is the red one worn by the main character in "Little Red Riding Hood."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hood 'hood Hood -hood hoods hooded hooding

If we lift the hood on some of these conspiracies, we can understand what people are really afraid of.

From Salon ● Oct. 15, 2026

“But the market underneath the hood has still been affected by interest rates.”

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026

A polite middle-aged man raised my hood, duct-taped the hose, and followed me as I limped to a service station.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

Architect William Van Alen modelled the eagle gargoyles on hood ornaments found on the 1929 Chrysler car.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

I push my hood away from my face.

From "Black Brother, Black Brother" by Jewell Parker Rhodes

"But we make black music first and foremost, and all our records is 'hood first'."

From BBC ● Feb. 6, 2025

“Whereas on the street, or in the ’hood, or whatever, the average player just plays,” he explained.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 10, 2023

“We’re spoiled in our ’hood for sure,” he says of all White Center’s food offerings.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 27, 2023

"They Cloned Tyrone," directed and co-written by Juel Taylor, is a futuristic 'hood mystery based around a white and white-adjacent corporate agenda to control the Black community through fried chicken, drugs and perms.

From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2023

Except there ain’t no flowers in my ’hood.

From "Like Vanessa" by Tami Charles

Jeff Hood: Well, none of them are good, but there are some that function certainly more systematically than others.

From Slate ● Oct. 7, 2026

Mr. Jones is founder of Just Capital and of Tudor Investment Corp and a co-founder of the Robin Hood Foundation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026

“We still had quite a bit of beach out there then, so it didn’t reach the boardwalk,” said Hood, 70.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

Almost 100 municipalities in the U.S. have ended their Flock contracts in response to public outcry, including several in Texas, such as Bandera and Hood County.

From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2026

Robin Hood is at his heels, jumping and barking.

From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan

When joined together, the h- of the -hood is put in immediate apposition with the s of the monks-.

From A Handbook of the English Language by R. G. (Robert Gordon) Latham

His sister, Alejandra, recalled Magaña as an easygoing charmer who would chat up strangers on the street and who found joy in tinkering under the hoods of his five cars.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2026

A resident told UK media she had alerted emergency services after seeing three vans blocking a road near the village and a group of men wearing hoods and balaclavas.

From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 2026

Both kept their hoods up throughout proceedings and their faces covered by masks so large only their eyes were still visible.

From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026

One running gag involves the hotel’s irritation at the nearby goats who trample on the hoods of parked cars.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 30, 2026

The heads of the women are almost universally covered, with a few completely draped, peering through their slitted abayas or utterly invisible under closed hoods.

From "Circumference" by Nicholas Nicastro

The reality competition show “The Traitors” is transforming into a sprawling entertainment franchise, with an official board game, signature hooded cloaks, and live immersive experiences.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026

There was "a large group of hooded and masked men" near the vans who started to "panic" when they saw her, she told Radio 4's Today programme.

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

At the time of the attack, Abdul B is believed to have been wearing a black hooded top and white trousers.

From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026

But merging in along the route were sections of masked, hooded invidividuals, many dressed all in in black.

From Barron's ● Jun. 14, 2026

I saw the grey, drawn flesh and the hooded eyes, deep sunken in their sockets, and I made to turn away but she held me.

From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya

Their accounts echo those of the Negra Francisca crew: cuffing and hooding by armed English-speakers before being turned over to a Salvadoran patrol craft, which took them to El Salvador.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 2026

The upper tends to address hooding and volume loss of the eyelid, while the lower focuses on puffiness and dark circles or hollowing under the eye, says Dr. Flora Levin, a Connecticut-based oculoplastic surgeon.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 1, 2026

She attended a Baptist pastor’s hooding ceremony, a public event for a Japanese sister city, and a luau held by a local nonprofit’s C.E.O.

From The New Yorker ● Aug. 12, 2019

I decided to order the cessation of all hooding as it had become particularly emotive in light of the death of Baha Mousa.

From BBC ● May 18, 2010

Gollum blinked, hooding the malice of his eyes with their heavy pale lids.

From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien

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