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
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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:
He told the crook, still on the line, he was driving to the police station.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
Seemingly, all the children of the Valley are being shuttled by their parents toward Stanford, where they will matriculate by hook or by crook.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 12, 2026
"I think until the end of her days, she was convinced that I must have been a crook," he laughed.
From BBC ● Mar. 2, 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
She wasn’t in the hayloft, or under the bushes, or perched in the crook of her favorite tree.
From "Bone Gap" by Laura Ruby
Opening an inquest in Crook, County Durham and Darlington senior coroner Jeremy Chipperfield heard the baby was full-term but it was not clear if he had been stillborn.
From BBC ● Apr. 14, 2026
Andrew Crook, who owns a fish and chip shop in Lancashire, northwestern England, told AFP the number of customers can more than double on Good Fridays.
From Barron's ● Apr. 5, 2026
Crook said Hipolito later lied to ICE officers that Velez was his aunt.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 3, 2026
Carey Crook, an ICE officer and supervisor on the scene, testified that after Hipolito and two others ignored multiple commands to stop blocking officer vehicles, Crook pepper sprayed them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 3, 2026
William Crook stands guard outside Lincoln’s office door.
From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly
Cook said audience research had revealed the public liked him taking on the crooks and charlatans but they didn't actually want to see him getting hit.
From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2026
It’s bad enough that Lisa has to deal with Dan’s insecurity — now she’s got to tangle with some dopey crooks?
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2026
The 20th-century culture business produced “profound” popular art even though its contracts were exploitative beyond the dreams of neoliberalism and its middlemen were often crooks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 5, 2025
An enthusiasm for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is one thing that apparently unites Harvard, the Trump family, Wall Street hedge funds and outright crooks in places like Russia.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 18, 2025
There are freshmen battling with shepherds’ crooks from the prop table, which—I’m not going to lie—look exactly like the old-timey hooks from Simon’s nightmares.
From "Leah on the Offbeat" by Becky Albertalli
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
Mr. Pappalardo has a novelist’s gifts for description and pacing, and his material—greedy entrepreneurs, crafty moonshiners, crooked politicos and jaded cops—is material any writer would welcome.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
I stay low to the ground, sneak along the back of Mrs. Jones’s yard until I reach the rear of Dad’s and climb the three crooked cement steps to the door.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
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
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
A trio of elderly gentlemen, seated outside at a cafe, urge us on, crooking thumbs in the uphill direction.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 10, 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
“Between you and me, I don’t think your gram would have liked that service too much,” he says, one of his woolly eyebrows crooking.
From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish
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.
