hookup

American  

[hook-uhp] / ˈhʊkˌʌp /

noun

1. an act or instance of hooking up.

2. an assembly and connection of parts, components, or apparatus into a circuit, network, machine, or system.

3. the circuit, network, machine, or system so formed.

4. a device or connection, as a plug, hose, or pipe, for conveying electricity, a water supply, etc., from a source to a user.

   Some campsites have electrical hookups for trailers.

5. Informal. an association, alliance, or cooperative effort.

   A closer hookup of Caribbean nations would be good for international trade.

6. Informal.

   1. a sexual encounter without a long-term commitment.

      I’m over these college boys who are only interested in meaningless hookups.

   2. a person with whom one has such an encounter.

      I ran into an old hookup at the club, but I pretended not to remember her.

7. Slang.

   1. a supplier of illicit goods, usually drugs.

      My hookup is getting out of the game—can you introduce me to your guy?

   2. access to illegal drugs.

      When you are trying to score on the street it is easy to see who has the hookup.

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Etymology

Origin of hookup

An Americanism dating back to 1900–05; noun use of verb phrase hook up

Example Sentences

And even if the residents are allowed to return, they wouldn’t be able to build new homes until the owners fix or replace damaged foundations and hookups for electricity and plumbing.

From Los Angeles Times

The writing is terrifically funny and also grounded, anecdotes filled with slapstick but no punchlines, befitting a story that includes hookups, weddings, children, a funeral and an unknowable future.

From Los Angeles Times

A data center that no longer fits a global balance sheet becomes nothing more than a warehouse full of dead machines and a power hookup the utility still has to maintain.

From Salon

It takes five to 10 years to get a grid hookup.

From The Wall Street Journal

First, its parcel of land provides easy access to fiber hookups, water, and the Hugoton and Panhandle gas fields, which span parts of Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas.

From Barron's

Related Words

• connection
• interconnection
• linkage