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• hook-up
  hook-up

  noun

  the contact of an aircraft in flight with the refuelling hose of a tanker aircraft
• hook up
  hook up

  Assemble or wire a mechanism, as in Dick helped us hook up the stereo system . [1920s]

hook-up

British  

noun

1. the contact of an aircraft in flight with the refuelling hose of a tanker aircraft

2. an alliance or relationship, esp an unlikely one, between people, countries, etc

3. the linking of broadcasting equipment or stations to transmit a special programme

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verb

1. to connect (two or more people or things)

2. slang (often foll by with) to get married (to)

hook up Idioms  

1. Assemble or wire a mechanism, as in Dick helped us hook up the stereo system . [1920s]

2. Connect a mechanism with a main source, as in The computer had not yet been hooked up to the mainframe . [1920s]

3. hook up with . Form a tie or association, as in She had hooked up with the wrong crowd . [ Slang ; mid-1900s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hook-up hook up

“This business can be lumpy and swing depending on customer grid hook-up timing, but that does not fully explain this drop-off,” William Blair’s Jed Dorsheimer told clients in a recent note.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 6, 2026

That's where the foundation of my Cream of Wheat hook-up came from, though I wasn't in poverty or jail at the time of its creation.

From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2023

She got me the whole VIP hook-up, like I could go in the rooms where nobody could go.

From New York Times ● May 1, 2023

Gaga and Grande lead the way in 2020, and their recent hook-up, Rain On Me, taken from the former's latest album Chromatica, is nominated in seven categories.

From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2020

It probably had something to do with the horror show hook-up with Faith and the intensity of Howie’s visit, but mostly it was thanks to Pastor Ted.

From "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" by Joanne Proulx

Those require millions and sometimes billions of dollars in collateral for companies wanting to use power to hook up data centers, meaning they “bear their fair share of costs to the system.”

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026

After the podcast, Swift had "a lot of people whispering in my ear", encouraging her to hook up with Travis.

From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026

By overseeing how data centers hook up to the grid, federal regulators could make it easier and faster for data centers to construct their own power supply, administration officials have argued.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 27, 2025

He is so good that somebody ought to check his golf balls for tiny magnets that hook up to the cups on the greens.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2025

People would bring their state-of-the-art reel-to-reel tape recorders and hook up speakers.

From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge

Related Words

• attach
• connect
• cover
• dress
• handcuff
• restrict
• shackle
• stick
• strap
• tether
• tie up
• unite
• wrap