by hook or crook

Idioms  

1. By any means possible, in one way or another. For example, The car broke down, but I'll get there by hook or crook. This term has a disputed origin. A widely held theory is that it comes from the custom of allowing commoners to take as much wood from royal forests as they could reach with a shepherd's crook and cut down with a billhook. [1300s] Also see the synonym by any means.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

by hook or crook

“Catastrophe” felt more like the first decade of my marriage, which was very confusing, trying by hook or crook to shed bad habits that I had.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2025

It’s also good enough for the federal government, which has been trying by hook or crook to increase supplies.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2020

And he just kept going, winning primaries by hook or crook, all the way to the end.

From Salon ● Oct. 19, 2016

The 1960s Patriots were nomads without a home stadium, more like a traveling circus that often won games by hook or crook.

From New York Times ● May 7, 2015

If she had still so great a value in the eyes of his patron, how enviable would he be if by hook or crook he could gain her!

From Starvecrow Farm by Stanley J. Weyman

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Related Words

• anyway

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