hookup
Americannoun
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hookups
plural
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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:
The hedge-born man conceived in a hookup under the hawthorn bushes in 17th-century Britain was the direct linguistic ancestor of today’s naked short-sellers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 21, 2026
If “Heated Rivalry” is a fairy tale for fulfilling relationships in an era of hookup culture, as some sex therapists have claimed, then Hollander is the princess that queer women can relate to.
From Salon ● Feb. 13, 2026
However, the emphasis is less on any ultimate hookup than on how the distinct pressures of the ivory tower can torment and even destroy its inhabitants.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2025
She appeared via video hookup wearing a dark protective vest.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 8, 2023
There were policemen, deputies, a state trooper or two; on the lawn, parked beside a couple of official-looking vehicles, was a remote radio-station hookup, a concessions truck, and a van from ActionNews Twelve.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
The Times: What are you doing about the DWP electrical hookups?
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026
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
Then she starts tearing off the hookups to her senses.
From "Landscape with Invisible Hand" by M.T. Anderson
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.
