hook
1[ hoo k ]
/ hʊk /
noun
a curved or angular piece of metal or other hard substance for catching, pulling, holding, or suspending something.
a fishhook.
anything that catches; snare; trap.
something that attracts attention or serves as an enticement: The product is good but we need a sales hook to get people to buy it.
something having a sharp curve, bend, or angle at one end, as a mark or symbol.
a sharp curve or angle in the length or course of anything.
a curved arm of land jutting into the water; a curved peninsula: Sandy Hook.
a recurved and pointed organ or appendage of an animal or plant.
a small curved catch inserted into a loop to form a clothes fastener.
Sports.
- the path described by a ball, as in baseball, bowling, or golf, that curves in a direction opposite to the throwing hand or to the side of the ball from which it was struck.
- a ball describing such a path.
Boxing. a short, circular punch delivered with the elbow bent.
Music.
Metalworking. an accidental short bend formed in a piece of bar stock during rolling.
hooks, Slang. hands or fingers: Get your hooks off that cake!
Underworld Slang. a pickpocket.
Also called deck hook. Nautical. a triangular plate or knee that binds together the stringers and plating at each end of a vessel.
verb (used with object)
to seize, fasten, suspend from, pierce, or catch hold of and draw with or as if with a hook.
to catch (fish) with a fishhook.
Slang. to steal or seize by stealth.
Informal. to catch or trick by artifice; snare.
(of a bull or other horned animal) to catch on the horns or attack with the horns.
to catch hold of and draw (loops of yarn) through cloth with or as if with a hook.
to make (a rug, garment, etc.) in this fashion.
Sports. to hit or throw (a ball) so that a hook results.
Boxing. to deliver a hook with: The champion hooked a right to his opponent's jaw.
Rugby. to push (a ball) backward with the foot in scrummage from the front line.
to make hook-shaped; crook.
verb (used without object)
to become attached or fastened by or as if by a hook.
to curve or bend like a hook.
Sports.
- (of a player) to hook the ball.
- (of a ball) to describe a hook in course.
Slang. to depart hastily: We'd better hook for home.
Verb Phrases
hook up,
- to fasten with a hook or hooks.
- to assemble or connect, as the components of a machine: to hook up a stereo system.
- to connect to a central source, as of power or water: The house hasn't been hooked up to the city's water system yet.
- Informal. to join, meet, or become associated with: He never had a decent job until he hooked up with this company.
- Informal. to have casual sex or a romantic date without a long-term commitment: He doesn't know her very well, but he hooked up with her a couple of times.
Words nearby hook
hoofer, hoofprint, hooft, hoogh, hooghly, hook, hook and eye, hook and ladder, hook bolt, hook check, hook of holland
Idioms for hook
by hook or by crook, by any means, whether just or unjust, legal or illegal.Also by hook or crook.
get/give the hook, Informal. to receive or subject to a dismissal: The rumor is that he got the hook.
- out of trouble; released from some difficulty: This time there was no one around to get him off the hook.
- free of obligation: Her brother paid all her bills and got her off the hook.
- Slang. extremely or shockingly excellent: Wow, that song is off the hook!
- obliged; committed; involved: He's already on the hook for $10,000.
- subjected to a delaying tactic; waiting: We've had him on the hook for two weeks now.
hook it, Slang. to run away; depart; flee: He hooked it when he saw the truant officer.
hook, line, and sinker, Informal. entirely; completely: He fell for the story—hook, line, and sinker.
off the hook,
on one's own hook, Informal. on one's own initiative or responsibility; independently.
on the hook, Slang.
Origin of hook
1before 900; 1830–40, Americanism for def 36; Middle English hoke (noun and v.), Old English hōc (noun); cognate with Dutch hoek hook, angle, corner; akin to German Haken, Old Norse haki
OTHER WORDS FROM hook
hook·less, adjectivehook·like, adjectiveWORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH hook
penance pennantsDefinition for hook (2 of 2)
hook2
[ hoo k ]
/ hʊk /
verb (used without object)
Slang. to work as a prostitute.
Origin of hook
2back formation from hooker1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
Examples from the Web for hook
“I think for trans men who are dating every time they hook up they have another coming out,” Sandler said.
They “hook up” in a manner that makes the casual sex of the 1960s seem like an arranged marriage in Oman.
Zuckerberg himself has bragged that he is able to predict which site members will hook up with whom based on their site activity.
In the near term, the state will only be on the hook for 10 percent of its costs by 2020.
Arkansas’s Blue Collar Social Conservatives Don’t Know What’s Coming|Monica Potts|November 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“Our 18 working groups are a terrific resource to elected officials, whether they are running for president or not,” said Hook.
Exclusive: Romney Foreign Policy Team Is Schooling 2016's Republicans|Josh Rogin|September 8, 2014|DAILY BEASTMr. Force got up, took an overcoat from a hook on the wall and hung it against the door.
Her Mother's Secret|Emma D. E. N. SouthworthIt is pear-shaped, about five-eighths of an inch long, and mounted with a gold top, and a hook to pass through the ear.
Jewellery|H. Clifford Smith,Within a mile ahead of us; but to enter the Hook, the bar must be crossed a league or two off.
Homeward Bound|James Fenimore CooperAfter "setting the hook" securely, Carol and Bill donned swim suits, dove overboard and swam lazily the 300 yards in to shore.
The Day of the Dog|Anderson HorneI cut the hook out with a knife making a big hole in the coat, and cast again.
British Dictionary definitions for hook
hook
/ (hʊk) /
noun
a piece of material, usually metal, curved or bent and used to suspend, catch, hold, or pull something
short for fish-hook
a trap or snare
mainly US something that attracts or is intended to be an attraction
something resembling a hook in design or use
- a sharp bend or angle in a geological formation, esp a river
- a sharply curved spit of land
boxing a short swinging blow delivered from the side with the elbow bent
cricket a shot in which the ball is hit square on the leg side with the bat held horizontally
golf a shot that causes the ball to swerve sharply from right to left
surfing the top of a breaking wave
Also called: hookcheck ice hockey the act of hooking an opposing player
music a stroke added to the stem of a written or printed note to indicate time values shorter than a crotchet
a catchy musical phrase in a pop song
another name for a sickle
a nautical word for anchor
by hook or crook or by hook or by crook by any means
get the hook US and Canadian slang to be dismissed from employment
hook, line, and sinker informal completelyhe fell for it hook, line, and sinker
off the hook
- slang out of danger; free from obligation or guilt
- (of a telephone receiver) not on the support, so that incoming calls cannot be received
on one's own hook slang, mainly US on one's own initiative
on the hook slang
- waiting
- in a dangerous or difficult situation
sling one's hook British slang to leave
verb
(often foll by up) to fasten or be fastened with or as if with a hook or hooks
(tr) to catch (something, such as a fish) on a hook
to curve like or into the shape of a hook
(tr) (of bulls, elks, etc) to catch or gore with the horns
(tr) to make (a rug) by hooking yarn through a stiff fabric backing with a special instrument
(tr often foll by down) to cut (grass or herbage) with a sickleto hook down weeds
boxing to hit (an opponent) with a hook
ice hockey to impede (an opposing player) by catching hold of him with the stick
golf to play (a ball) with a hook
rugby to obtain and pass (the ball) backwards from a scrum to a member of one's team, using the feet
cricket to play (a ball) with a hook
(tr) informal to trick
(tr) a slang word for steal
hook it slang to run or go quickly away
See also hook-up
Derived forms of hook
hookless, adjectivehooklike, adjectiveWord Origin for hook
Old English hōc; related to Middle Dutch hōk, Old Norse haki
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Idioms and Phrases with hook
hook
In addition to the idioms beginning with hook
- hook or crook
- hook up
also see:
- by hook or crook
- off the hook
- on one's own account (hook)
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.