crook
noun
a bent or curved implement, piece, appendage, etc.; hook.
crook
1 American
[krook]
/ krʊk /
noun
-
crooks
plural
-
a bent or curved implement, piece, appendage, etc.; hook.
-
the hooked part of anything.
-
an instrument or implement having a bent or curved part, as a shepherd's staff hooked at one end or the crosier of a bishop or abbot.
-
a dishonest person, especially a sharper, swindler, or thief.
-
a bend, turn, or curve.
a crook in the road.
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the act of crooking or bending.
-
a pothook.
-
Also called shank. a device on some musical wind instruments for changing the pitch, consisting of a piece of tubing inserted into the main tube.
verb (used with object)
-
crooks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
crooked,
past participle, past
-
crooking
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
crooks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
crooked,
past participle, past
-
crooking
present participle
crook
2
American
[krook]
/ krʊk /
Crook
3
American
[krook]
/ krʊk /
noun
crook
British
/ krʊk /
noun
-
a curved or hooked thing
-
a staff with a hooked end, such as a bishop's crosier or shepherd's staff
-
a turn or curve; bend
-
informal a dishonest person, esp a swindler or thief
-
the act or an instance of crooking or bending
-
Also called: shank. a piece of tubing added to a brass instrument in order to obtain a lower harmonic series
verb
adjective
-
informal
-
ill
-
of poor quality
-
unpleasant; bad
-
-
informal to lose one's temper
-
informal to rebuke or upbraid
crook
Idioms
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
crooksimple
-
crookssimple
-
have crookedperfect
-
has crookedperfect
-
am crookingprogressive
-
are crookingprogressive
-
is crookingprogressive
-
have been crookingperfect progressive
-
has been crookingperfect progressive
Past
-
crookedsimple
-
had crookedperfect
-
was crookingprogressive
-
were crookingprogressive
-
had been crookingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of crook1
First recorded in 1125–75; Middle English crok, crouk, from Old Norse krōkr “hook, barb, corner”
Origin of crook2
First recorded in 1875–80; perhaps alteration of cronk
Explanation
A crook is long staff that’s bent at one end, like something you might see a shepherd carrying. A crook can also be a criminal — a person who’s dishonest, or bent, just like the staff. The noun crook entered English in the 13th century as a way to describe the long tool with a hook at one end. It later took on the meaning of “petty criminal.” You can use crook as an informal way to describe someone who is dishonest. A crook is typically involved in minor or nonviolent crimes; you wouldn’t use the word to describe a murderer, for example. A con man or someone committing fraud could be called a crook.
Vocabulary lists containing crook
"The Tragedy of Hamlet," Vocabulary from Act 3
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Selection Vocabulary 2, Unit 3
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American Street
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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.
See Examples For:
Richard M. Nixon famously declared, ‘I am not a crook.’
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2026
He told the crook, still on the line, he was driving to the police station.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
It was late, and the store was out of disposable bags, so I tucked some of the loot into my dance bag and cradled the rest in the crook of my arm.
From Salon ● Jan. 1, 2026
The picture, taken by Millie Pilkington, shows the King at his Sandringham estate in Norfolk, holding a shepherd's crook.
From BBC ● Nov. 14, 2025
He sleeps in bed with me in the crook of my knees, but I am more as well.
From This Side of Wild by Gary Paulsen
Jamie Crook, who recently moved to the city from Oxford, said he was shocked at the large turnout and "had jelly legs the whole time".
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
“If we got back super late from an away game and you got school the next day, it helps you get up and get going,” said Lampasas senior and football player Brayden Crook, 17.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
Crook urged chip shops to list the species on their menus, adding: "As an industry, we've got to have the trust of the general public."
From BBC ● Apr. 30, 2026
Nonetheless, "we're definitely under pressure," said Crook, president of the National Federation of Fish Fryers.
From Barron's ● Apr. 5, 2026
As Crook finishes, Lincoln comes to his office door.
From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly
If crooks have access to some of an individual’s personal information, that’s another way to sharpen the hook.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 5, 2026
In the final entry on her blog, posted barely half an hour before she was killed, Caruana Galizia wrote: "There are crooks everywhere you look now. The situation is desperate".
From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026
"Those were all written for a TV show, for something that was not for me, so Fantasize comes out, crazy, was stolen... These pirates, crooks, illegal!"
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
“I mean, they need to be able to do that. But they just, you know, they need to pay more attention to the crooks than people trying to make an honest living.”
From Salon ● Jun. 2, 2026
He crooks a long finger under my chin, tilting my head up so that my eyes meet his, light brown flecked with gray.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
Obviously such financial freedom was possible—but only if you were a guy who knew how the crooked game was played.
From Slate ● Sep. 20, 2026
But the Dodgers failed to turn a bases-loaded situation into a crooked number when Ohtani grounded into a double play to end the inning.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026
In 2019, the IRS told Murrin she owed unpaid tax, penalties and interest for income-tax returns the crooked accountant filed from 1993 to 1999.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 25, 2026
"They're crooked," he continued, "just like you're crooked."
From BBC ● Jun. 7, 2026
Hadel fixed her crooked gaze on me until a chill ran up my neck and through my bones.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
Short as trees go, it has a hunkered-down look, its branches starting low to the ground and crooking and knotting as they rise.
From New York Times ● May 10, 2021
Bransfield summoned him out of classes, sometimes by knocking on the classroom door and beckoning him by crooking his finger, he told The Post.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 29, 2019
He was having an almost violently good time, it appeared, kissing women on the cheek, crooking his arm around his friends’ necks.
From The New Yorker ● Jun. 24, 2019
So police officers, crooking a single finger, have ordered scores of drivers to the curb for breaking the law and issued them a fine for $130.
From New York Times ● Feb. 3, 2012
“Owooo!” wailed Arm, crooking his legs and advancing on the villagers like a giant spider.
From "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer
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.
