hookup
Americannoun
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an act or instance of hooking up.
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an assembly and connection of parts, components, or apparatus into a circuit, network, machine, or system.
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the circuit, network, machine, or system so formed.
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a device or connection, as a plug, hose, or pipe, for conveying electricity, a water supply, etc., from a source to a user.
Some campsites have electrical hookups for trailers.
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Informal. an association, alliance, or cooperative effort.
A closer hookup of Caribbean nations would be good for international trade.
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Informal.
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a sexual encounter without a long-term commitment.
I’m over these college boys who are only interested in meaningless hookups.
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a person with whom one has such an encounter.
I ran into an old hookup at the club, but I pretended not to remember her.
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Slang.
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a supplier of illicit goods, usually drugs.
My hookup is getting out of the game—can you introduce me to your guy?
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access to illegal drugs.
When you are trying to score on the street it is easy to see who has the hookup.
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Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of hookup
An Americanism dating back to 1900–05; noun use of verb phrase hook up
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:
It takes five to 10 years to get a grid hookup.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 28, 2025
A data center that no longer fits a global balance sheet becomes nothing more than a warehouse full of dead machines and a power hookup the utility still has to maintain.
From Salon ● Dec. 28, 2025
Meanwhile, sound designer Johnnie Burn, also recently of “Nope” and “Poor Things,” is on video hookup all day from Brighton, sharing ideas, trying out remixes on the fly.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 11, 2024
He wrote that the group has done other research, in addition to the analysis of dating and hookup apps.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 9, 2023
I have a pretty good auditory-nerve hookup with my feed, so the sound is real spink, and it’s good to move to.
From "Feed" by M.T. Anderson
Solar power and advanced water recycling systems would eliminate the need for utility hookups, only requiring occasional deliveries of potable water and propane to run the systems.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026
That reflects higher capital expenditures: The company has been accelerating its spending on fiber optics, which deliver high-speed internet hookups to U.S. households.
From Barron's ● Apr. 23, 2026
To speed things up, the U.K. recently scrapped its first-come, first-served system for grid hookups.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 28, 2025
Most people alive today carry traces of genes inherited from Neanderthals—the enduring legacy of prehistoric hookups with our extinct cousins.
From Science Magazine ● May 22, 2024
There are shots of workers double-checking the tech hookups.
From "Warcross" by Marie Lu
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.
