rook
1 Americannoun
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a black, European crow, Corvus frugilegus, noted for its gregarious habits.
-
a sharper at cards or dice; swindler.
verb (used with object)
noun
noun
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a large Eurasian passerine bird, Corvus frugilegus , with a black plumage and a whitish base to its bill: family Corvidae (crows)
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slang a swindler or cheat, esp one who cheats at cards
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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rooksimple
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rookssimple
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have rookedperfect
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has rookedperfect
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am rookingprogressive
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are rookingprogressive
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is rookingprogressive
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have been rookingperfect progressive
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has been rookingperfect progressive
Past
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rookedsimple
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had rookedperfect
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was rookingprogressive
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were rookingprogressive
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had been rookingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of rook1
First recorded before 900; Middle English rok(e), Old English hrōc; cognate with Old Norse hrōkr, Old High German hruoh
Origin of rook2
1300–50; Middle English rok < Old French roc < Arabic rukhkh < Persian rukh
Explanation
A rook is a crow-like black bird that lives in northern Europe. To rook someone is to trick them, like a sneaky old crow. And in chess, the rook is the piece that looks like a tower or a castle. You can tell the difference between a rook and a crow, which are both members of the bird family Corvus, by the pale skin around a rook's bill in front of its eyes and the shaggy feathers around its legs. Urban rooks, like their crow cousins, prefer areas near human activity where they can scavenge food — although they also eat earthworms and insects. You're most likely to see rooks in northern Europe, Iceland, and parts of Scandinavia (or on a chess board :) .
Vocabulary lists containing rook
A Vocabulary Bestiary: Animals That Behave as Verbs
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Check It Out, Mate: Chess Vocabulary
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The Poet X
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Criticks, do your worst, that here are met; For, like a Rook, I have hedged in my Bet.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 21, 2026
This isn’t the first time this kind of attitude has followed Ishii’s attachment to a game; last year, they were one of the voice options for Rook, the lead character in Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
From Slate • Oct. 11, 2025
"She just has such incredible physical stamina, mental toughness and just sheer determination to go out and do these extreme efforts," said Anne-Marije Rook, North America editor at Cycling Weekly magazine.
From BBC • Sep. 11, 2024
This remains the case when Andy encounters the slimy remains of Rook, the derelict vessel’s android science officer who looks exactly like Ash, the series’ first android traitor introduced in 1979’s “Alien.”
From Salon • Aug. 26, 2024
The time she and her parents had walked into Rook Hill on a fall day, the leaves as gold as coins, the air crisp and dry.
From "Ash" by Malinda Lo
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
