hood
noun
a soft or flexible covering for the head and neck, either separate or attached to a cloak, coat, or the like.
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hood
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'hood
'hoodnouna neighborhood, especially an urban neighborhood inhabited predominantly by African Americans of low socioeconomic status.
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Hood
HoodnounJohn Bell, 1831–79, Confederate general in the U.S. Civil War.
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-hood
-hooda 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
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a soft or flexible covering for the head and neck, either separate or attached to a cloak, coat, or the like.
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something resembling or suggesting such a covering, especially in shape, as certain petals or sepals.
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the hinged, movable part of an automobile body covering the engine.
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British. the roof of a carriage.
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a metal cover or canopy for a stove, ventilator, etc.
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Falconry. a cover for the entire head of a hawk, used when the bird is not in pursuit of game.
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an ornamental ruffle or fold on the back of the shoulders of an academic gown, jurist's robe, etc.
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a crest or band of color on the head of certain birds and animals.
verb (used with object)
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hoods,
present (3rd person singular)
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hooded,
past participle, past
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hooding
present participle
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to furnish with a hood.
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to cover with or as if with a hood.
hood
2
American
[hood, hood]
/ hʊd, hud /
noun
Slang.
'hood
3
American
[hood]
/ hʊd /
Or
hood
noun
Slang.
Hood
4
American
[hood]
/ hʊd /
noun
-
John Bell, 1831–79, Confederate general in the U.S. Civil War.
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Raymond Mathewson 1881–1934, U.S. architect.
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Robin. Robin Hood.
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Thomas, 1799–1845, English poet and humorist.
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Mount, a volcanic peak in N Oregon, in the Cascade Range. 11,253 feet (3,430 meters).
-hood
5
American
hood
1
British
/ hʊd /
noun
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a loose head covering either attached to a cloak or coat or made as a separate garment
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something resembling this in shape or use
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the US and Canadian name for bonnet
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the folding roof of a convertible car
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a hoodlike garment worn over an academic gown, indicating its wearer's degree and university
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falconry a close-fitting cover, placed over the head and eyes of a falcon to keep it quiet when not hunting
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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
verb
Hood
2
British
/ hʊd /
noun
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See Robin Hood
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Samuel, 1st Viscount. 1724–1816, British admiral. He fought successfully against the French during the American Revolution and the French Revolutionary Wars
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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)
-hood
3
British
suffix
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indicating state or condition of being
manhood
adulthood
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indicating a body of persons
knighthood
priesthood
'hood
4
British
/ hʊd /
noun
hood
5
British
/ hʊd /
noun
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
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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hoodsimple
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hoodssimple
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have hoodedperfect
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has hoodedperfect
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am hoodingprogressive
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are hoodingprogressive
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is hoodingprogressive
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have been hoodingperfect progressive
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has been hoodingperfect progressive
Past
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hoodedsimple
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had hoodedperfect
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was hoodingprogressive
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were hoodingprogressive
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had been hoodingperfect progressive
Future
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
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Inside the Science Center, Endeavour’s payload bay doors are cracked wide open, like a car’s lifted hood — but they were built for space, not Earth’s gravity.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026
The disclosures offer a rare financial look under the hood as the AI giant prepares for a blockbuster IPO that could help it reach a valuation of $2 trillion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026
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
After Sadani had his car stolen a few years ago, he only ever buys old crappy cars that he can't get working, so he won't mind you jumping on the hood.
From "Look Both Ways" by Jason Reynolds
“So your best friends are Black and you live in the ‘hood.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 11, 2026
"But we make black music first and foremost, and all our records is 'hood first'."
From BBC ● Feb. 6, 2025
“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
She’s always telling me, “I don’t care if they give the ’hood a new name or not; it’s still the ’hood.”
From "Piecing Me Together" by Renée Watson
Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood said spending will top $50 billion in the current quarter, on the way to $170 billion for calendar 2027.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 3, 2026
Jeff considers himself a "bit of Robin Hood mixed with anarchist direct action", only scrounging in more affluent neighbourhoods and giving away many of his finds.
From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026
Its overall capital expenditures reached $45.2 billion, around three-quarters of which was spent on "short-lived assets" like memory chips and storage, Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood said.
From Barron's ● Oct. 28, 2026
Jeff Hood: Well, none of them are good, but there are some that function certainly more systematically than others.
From Slate ● Oct. 7, 2026
Phillip wanted them to take the Red Hood by surprise while she was distracted.
From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley
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
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
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
Companies that buy aluminum to make everything from soda cans to car hoods have been feeling the pain of more expensive aluminum.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 2, 2026
"She knows what she was told was based on false hoods... She should out the newspapers on the offering of money for stories."
From BBC ● Jan. 31, 2026
“Funny angels in hoods and mittens,” said Jo, and set them to laughing.
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
In town, Grant Trask, a retired fisherman in a hooded sweatshirt, was scrubbing potatoes he dug up from the garden of the bed-and-breakfast he runs with his wife.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 1, 2026
Now the owners display an 8-foot-tall ghoulish hooded character that arches over the sidewalk.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
Surrounded by hooded police officers, Claudia Pardo, head of communications for the prosecutor's office, denounced the raid as "illegal."
From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026
Osaka took the court wearing a long, hooded gown — possibly inspired by Iverson’s hoodies and baggy clothes from back in the day — with newspaper clippings about her attached to it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026
When the Dwarf had a small bright blaze going, the three companions drew close to it and sat together, shrouding the light with their hooded forms.
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
“I never thought I would get plastic surgery,” said Caruso, who opted in after noticing that her eyeliner no longer showed up on her eyes due to hooding.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 1, 2026
Zhang, an award-winning author of “How Much of These Hills Is Gold” and “Land of Milk and Honey,” was scheduled to speak at the May 8 education school doctoral hooding ceremony.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 28, 2024
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
Jon went from one mews to another, hooding each occupant and carrying it to his tour van.
From "Frightful's Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
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