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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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.
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
It takes five to 10 years to get a grid hookup.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 28, 2025
Arbor portrays its solution as a flexible, carbon-negative and clean device: It can operate anywhere with a hookup for carbon sequestration.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 30, 2025
She appeared via video hookup wearing a dark protective vest.
From Seattle Times • Jun. 8, 2023
Arrangements were made for press coverage, for sound amplification, and for a coast-to-coast radio hookup that would broadcast the concert to the nation.
From "The Voice That Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights" by Russell Freedman
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.
