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hook
1[hook]
noun
a curved or angular piece of metal or other hard substance for catching, pulling, holding, or suspending something.
a fishhook.
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.
the neighborhood of Red Hook, Brooklyn, situated on a peninsula in upper New York Bay.
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.
Also called flag, pennant.a stroke or line attached to the stem of eighth notes, sixteenth notes, etc.
an appealing melodic phrase, orchestral ornament, refrain, etc., often important to a popular song's commercial success.
Metalworking.an accidental short bend formed in a piece of bar stock during rolling.
Slang.hooks, 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 phrase
to fasten with a hook or hooks.
to assemble or connect, as the components of a machine.
They helped me hook up my new home security 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.
Informalto join, meet, or become associated with.
He never had a decent job until he hooked up with this company.
Informalto 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.
Slangto supply something scarce or illicit to: The concert is sold out, but my sister knows a guy in the band, so we’re hoping she can hook us up with some tickets.
My supply of painkillers is totally dry—do you know somebody who can hook me up?
The concert is sold out, but my sister knows a guy in the band, so we’re hoping she can hook us up with some tickets.
hook
2[hook]
verb (used without object)
Slang.to work as a prostitute.
hook
/ ʊ /
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
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 any means
slangto be dismissed from employment
informalcompletely
he fell for it hook, line, and sinker
slangout of danger; free from obligation or guilt
(of a telephone receiver) not on the support, so that incoming calls cannot be received
slangon one's own initiative
slang
waiting
in a dangerous or difficult situation
slangto 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
to cut (grass or herbage) with a sickle
to 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
informal(tr) to trick
(tr) a slang word for steal
slangto run or go quickly away
Other Word Forms
- hookless adjective
- hooklike adjective
- ˈǴǰ adjective
- ˈǴǰˌ adjective
Word History and Origins
Origin of hook1
Word History and Origins
Origin of hook1
Idioms and Phrases
hook it, to run away; depart; flee.
He hooked it when he saw the truant officer.
on the hook,
get / give the hook, to receive or subject to a dismissal.
The rumor is that he got the hook.
hook, line, and sinker, entirely; completely.
He fell for the story—hook, line, and sinker.
by hook or by crook, by any means, whether just or unjust, legal or illegal. Also by hook or crook
on one's own hook, on one's own initiative or responsibility; independently.
off 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!
Example Sentences
The Englishman, born to a Albanian father and a British-Yemeni mother, became hooked on the sport when his mum brought him to a boxing gym aged five.
“Dangerous Animals” hooks all the shark movie tropes that audiences want to see along one extended fishing lure, before twisting that lure into a knot, forcing expectations to collide and shatter.
They hit the bag with a left-handed jab, a right-handed reverse, a hook, another hook, an uppercut, another jab, bam, bam, bam.
Smith and his two deckhands have been buying bait and preparing hooks, nets and other gear to take 18 passengers fishing Saturday and Sunday.
He added that it "doesn't touch the sides in enacting fundamental reform - especially if water companies can still workaround bonuses and wriggle off the hook".
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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.
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