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crook - 12 dictionary results

crook

1[krook]
–noun
1. a bent or curved implement, piece, appendage, etc.; hook.
2. the hooked part of anything.
3. an instrument or implement having a bent or curved part, as a shepherd's staff hooked at one end or the crosier of a bishop or abbot.
4. a dishonest person, esp. a sharper, swindler, or thief.
5. a bend, turn, or curve: a crook in the road.
6. the act of crooking or bending.
7. a pothook.
8. Also called shank. a device on some musical wind instruments for changing the pitch, consisting of a piece of tubing inserted into the main tube.
–verb (used with object)
9. to bend; curve; make a crook in.
10. Slang. to steal, cheat, or swindle: She crooked a ring from that shop.
–verb (used without object)
11. to bend; curve.

Origin:
1125–75; ME crok(e) < ON krāka hook

crook

2[krook]
–adjective Australian.
1. sick or feeble.
2. ill-humored; angry.
3. out of order; functioning improperly.
4. unsatisfactory; disappointing.

Origin:
1875–80; perh. alter. of cronk

Crook

[krook]
–noun
George, 1829–90, U.S. general in Indian wars.
crook 1   (krŏŏk)   
n.  
  1. An implement or tool, such as a bishop's crosier or a shepherd's staff, with a bent or curved part.
  2. A part that is curved or bent like a hook.
  3. A curve or bend; a turn: a crook in the path.
  4. Informal One who makes a living by dishonest methods.
v.   crooked, crook·ing, crooks

v.   tr.
To make a crook in; bend.
v.   intr.
To bend or curve. See Synonyms at bend1.

[Middle English crok, from Old Norse krōkr.]
crook 2   (krŏŏk)   
adj.   Australian
  1. Out of order; faulty.
  2. Not well; ill.
  3. Of poor quality; inferior.
  4. Not honest; crooked.

[From crooked or crook1.]
Crook   (krŏŏk)   
American general who defeated the Sioux (1876) and subdued the Chiricahua Apaches under Geronimo (1883).

Crook

Crook\ (kr[oo^]k), n. [OE. crok; akin to Icel. kr[onac]kr hook, bend, SW. krok, Dan. krog, OD. krooke; or cf. Gael. crocan crook, hook, W. crwca crooked. Cf. Crosier, Crotchet, Crutch, Encroach.]

1. A bend, turn, or curve; curvature; flexure.

Through lanes, and crooks, and darkness. --Phaer.

2. Any implement having a bent or crooked end. Especially: (a) The staff used by a shepherd, the hook of which serves to hold a runaway sheep. (b) A bishop's staff of office. Cf. Pastoral staff.

He left his crook, he left his flocks. --Prior.

3. A pothook. "As black as the crook." --Sir W. Scott.

4. An artifice; trick; tricky device; subterfuge.

For all yuor brags, hooks, and crooks. --Cranmer.

5. (Mus.) A small tube, usually curved, applied to a trumpet, horn, etc., to change its pitch or key.

6. A person given to fraudulent practices; an accomplice of thieves, forgers, etc. [Cant, U.S.]

By hook or by crook, in some way or other; by fair means or foul.

Crook

Crook\ (kr??k), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Crooked (kr??kt); p. pr. & vb. n. Crooking.] [OE. croken; cf. Sw. kr?ka, Dan. kr?ge. See Crook, n.]

1. To turn from a straight line; to bend; to curve.

Crook the pregnant hinges of the knee. --Shak.

2. To turn from the path of rectitude; to pervert; to misapply; to twist. [Archaic]

There is no one thing that crooks youth more than such unlawfull games. --Ascham.

What soever affairs pass such a man's hands, he crooketh them to his own ends. --Bacon.

Crook

Crook\, v. i. To bend; to curve; to wind; to have a curvature. " The port . . . crooketh like a bow." --Phaer.

Their shoes and pattens are snouted, and piked more than a finger long, crooking upwards. --Camden.
Language Translation for : crook
Spanish: cayado, báculo (obispo),
German: der (Hirten-, *Bischofs-)Stab,
Japanese: 柄の曲った杖

crook 
c.1225, "hook-shaped instrument or weapon," from O.N. krokr "hook, corner," of obscure origin. Meaning of "swindler" is Amer.Eng., 1879, but crook "dishonest trick" was in M.E.

crook

In addition to the idioms beginning with crook, also see by hook or crook.

crook

in brass musical instruments, detachable piece of metal tubing inserted between the mouthpiece and the main tubing or in the middle of the tubing to lengthen the air column produced. This manipulation allows the player to obtain notes not included in the harmonic series of the original air column. Crooks were in use at least by about 1600 and were used extensively by the late 18th century. They were superseded in the 19th century by valves, which, unlike crooks, allowed instantaneous changes in basic air-column pitch

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