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hook

- 13 dictionary results

hook

1  [hook]
Use hook in a Sentence
–noun
1. a curved or angular piece of metal or other hard substance for catching, pulling, holding, or suspending something.
2. a fishhook.
3. anything that catches; snare; trap.
4. 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.
5. something having a sharp curve, bend, or angle at one end, as a mark or symbol.
6. a sharp curve or angle in the length or course of anything.
7. a curved arm of land jutting into the water; a curved peninsula: Sandy Hook.
8. a recurved and pointed organ or appendage of an animal or plant.
9. a small curved catch inserted into a loop to form a clothes fastener.
10. Sports.
a. 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.
b. a ball describing such a path.
11. Boxing. a short, circular punch delivered with the elbow bent.
12. Music.
a. Also called pennant. a stroke or line attached to the stem of eighth notes, sixteenth notes, etc.
b. an appealing melodic phrase, orchestral ornament, refrain, etc., often important to a popular song's commercial success.
13. Metalworking. an accidental short bend formed in a piece of bar stock during rolling.
14. hooks, Slang. hands or fingers: Get your hooks off that cake!
15. Underworld Slang. a pickpocket.
16. 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)
17. to seize, fasten, suspend from, pierce, or catch hold of and draw with or as if with a hook.
18. to catch (fish) with a fishhook.
19. Slang. to steal or seize by stealth.
20. Informal. to catch or trick by artifice; snare.
21. (of a bull or other horned animal) to catch on the horns or attack with the horns.
22. to catch hold of and draw (loops of yarn) through cloth with or as if with a hook.
23. to make (a rug, garment, etc.) in this fashion.
24. Sports. to hit or throw (a ball) so that a hook results.
25. Boxing. to deliver a hook with: The champion hooked a right to his opponent's jaw.
26. Rugby. to push (a ball) backward with the foot in scrummage from the front line.
27. to make hook-shaped; crook.
–verb (used without object)
28. to become attached or fastened by or as if by a hook.
29. to curve or bend like a hook.
30. Sports.
a. (of a player) to hook the ball.
b. (of a ball) to describe a hook in course.
31. Slang. to depart hastily: We'd better hook for home.
—Verb phrase
32. hook up,
a. to fasten with a hook or hooks.
b. to assemble or connect, as the components of a machine: to hook up a stereo system.
c. 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.
d. Informal. to join or become associated with: He never had a decent job until he hooked up with this company.
—Idioms
33. by hook or by crook, by any means, whether just or unjust, legal or illegal. Also, by hook or crook.
34. get or give the hook, Informal. to receive or subject to a dismissal: The rumor is that he got the hook.
35. hook it, Slang. to run away; depart; flee: He hooked it when he saw the truant officer.
36. hook, line, and sinker, Informal. entirely; completely: He fell for the story—hook, line, and sinker.
37. off the hook,
a. out of trouble; released from some difficulty: This time there was no one around to get him off the hook.
b. free of obligation: His brother paid all his bills and got him off the hook.
38. on one's own hook, Informal. on one's own initiative or responsibility; independently.
39. on the hook, Slang.
a. obliged; committed; involved: He's already on the hook for $10,000.
b. subjected to a delaying tactic; waiting: We've had him on the hook for two weeks now.
Origin:
bef. 900; 1830–40, Americanism for def. 35; ME hoke (n. and v.), OE hōc (n.); c. D hoek hook, angle, corner; akin to G Haken, ON haki

Related forms:
hookless, adjective
hooklike, adjective

hook

2  [hook]
–verb (used without object)
Slang. to work as a prostitute.
Origin:
back formation from hooker 1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To hook
hook   (hŏŏk)   
n.  
    1. A curved or sharply bent device, usually of metal, used to catch, drag, suspend, or fasten something else.
    2. A fishhook.
    3. A curved or barbed plant or animal part.
    4. A short angled or curved line on a letter.
    5. A sickle.
    6. A sharp bend or curve, as in a river.
    7. A point or spit of land with a sharply curved end.
    8. A means of attracting interest or attention; an enticement: a sales hook.
    9. Music A catchy motif or refrain: "sugary hard rock melodies [and] ear candy hooks" (Boston Globe).
    10. A short swinging blow in boxing delivered with a crooked arm.
    11. The course of a ball that curves in a direction away from the dominant hand of the player propelling it, as to the left of a right-handed player.
    12. A stroke that sends a ball on such a course.
    13. A ball propelled on such a course.
    14. In surfing, the lip of a breaking wave.
  2. Something shaped like a hook, especially:
    1. A curved or barbed plant or animal part.
    2. A short angled or curved line on a letter.
    3. A sickle.
    4. A sharp bend or curve, as in a river.
    5. A point or spit of land with a sharply curved end.
    6. A means of attracting interest or attention; an enticement: a sales hook.
    7. Music A catchy motif or refrain: "sugary hard rock melodies [and] ear candy hooks" (Boston Globe).
    8. A short swinging blow in boxing delivered with a crooked arm.
    9. The course of a ball that curves in a direction away from the dominant hand of the player propelling it, as to the left of a right-handed player.
    10. A stroke that sends a ball on such a course.
    11. A ball propelled on such a course.
    12. In surfing, the lip of a breaking wave.
    1. A sharp bend or curve, as in a river.
    2. A point or spit of land with a sharply curved end.
    3. A means of attracting interest or attention; an enticement: a sales hook.
    4. Music A catchy motif or refrain: "sugary hard rock melodies [and] ear candy hooks" (Boston Globe).
    5. A short swinging blow in boxing delivered with a crooked arm.
    6. The course of a ball that curves in a direction away from the dominant hand of the player propelling it, as to the left of a right-handed player.
    7. A stroke that sends a ball on such a course.
    8. A ball propelled on such a course.
    9. In surfing, the lip of a breaking wave.
  4. A means of catching or ensnaring; a trap.
  5. Slang
    1. A means of attracting interest or attention; an enticement: a sales hook.
    2. Music A catchy motif or refrain: "sugary hard rock melodies [and] ear candy hooks" (Boston Globe).
    3. A short swinging blow in boxing delivered with a crooked arm.
    4. The course of a ball that curves in a direction away from the dominant hand of the player propelling it, as to the left of a right-handed player.
    5. A stroke that sends a ball on such a course.
    6. A ball propelled on such a course.
    7. In surfing, the lip of a breaking wave.
  6. Sports
    1. A short swinging blow in boxing delivered with a crooked arm.
    2. The course of a ball that curves in a direction away from the dominant hand of the player propelling it, as to the left of a right-handed player.
    3. A stroke that sends a ball on such a course.
    4. A ball propelled on such a course.
    5. In surfing, the lip of a breaking wave.
  7. Baseball A curve ball.
  8. Basketball A hook shot.
v.   hooked, hook·ing, hooks

v.   tr.
    1. To catch, suspend, or connect with a hook.
    2. Informal To snare.
    3. Slang To steal; snatch. See Synonyms at steal.
    4. To take strong hold of; captivate: a novel that hooked me on the very first page.
    5. To cause to become addicted.
    6. To hit with a hook in boxing.
    7. To hit (a golf ball) in a hook.
  2. To fasten by or as if by a hook.
  3. To pierce or gore with or as if with a hook.
  4. Slang
    1. To take strong hold of; captivate: a novel that hooked me on the very first page.
    2. To cause to become addicted.
    3. To hit with a hook in boxing.
    4. To hit (a golf ball) in a hook.
  5. To make (a rug) by looping yarn through canvas with a type of hook.
  6. Sports
    1. To hit with a hook in boxing.
    2. To hit (a golf ball) in a hook.
  7. Baseball To pitch (a ball) with a curve.
  8. Basketball To shoot (a ball) in a hook shot.
  9. Sports To impede the progress of (an opponent in ice hockey) by holding or restraining the player with one's stick, in violation of the rules.
v.   intr.
  1. To bend like a hook.
  2. To fasten by means of a hook or a hook and eye.
  3. Slang To work as a prostitute.
Phrasal Verb(s):
hook up
  1. To assemble or wire (a mechanism).
  2. To connect a mechanism and a source of power.
  3. Slang
    1. To meet or associate: We agreed to hook up after class. He hooked up with the wrong crowd.
    2. To become romantically or sexually involved with someone.
    3. To marry or get married.

Idiom(s):
by hook or by crookBy whatever means possible, fair or unfair.

Idiom(s):
get the hook Slang To be unceremoniously dismissed or terminated.

Idiom(s):
hook, line, and sinker Informal Without reservation; completely: swallowed the excuse hook, line, and sinker.

Idiom(s):
off the hook Informal Freed, as from blame or a vexatious obligation: let me off the hook with a mild reprimand.

Idiom(s):
on (one's) own hookBy one's own efforts.

[Middle English hok, from Old English hōc; see keg- in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Hook

Hook\, n. [OE. hok, AS. h[=o]c; cf. D. haak, G. hake, haken, OHG. h[=a]ko, h[=a]go, h[=a]ggo, Icel. haki, Sw. hake, Dan. hage. Cf. Arquebuse, Hagbut, Hake, Hatch a half door, Heckle.]

1. A piece of metal, or other hard material, formed or bent into a curve or at an angle, for catching, holding, or sustaining anything; as, a hook for catching fish; a hook for fastening a gate; a boat hook, etc.

2. That part of a hinge which is fixed to a post, and on which a door or gate hangs and turns.

3. An implement for cutting grass or grain; a sickle; an instrument for cutting or lopping; a billhook.

Like slashing Bentley with his desperate hook. --Pope.

4. (Steam Engin.) See Eccentric, and V-hook.

5. A snare; a trap. [R.] --Shak.

6. A field sown two years in succession. [Prov. Eng.]

7. pl. The projecting points of the thigh bones of cattle; -- called also hook bones.

By hook or by crook, one way or other; by any means, direct or indirect. --Milton. "In hope her to attain by hook or crook." --Spenser.

Off the hooks, unhinged; disturbed; disordered. [Colloq.] "In the evening, by water, to the Duke of Albemarle, whom I found mightly off the hooks that the ships are not gone out of the river." --Pepys.

On one's own hook, on one's own account or responsibility; by one's self. [Colloq. U.S.] --Bartlett.

To go off the hooks, to die. [Colloq.] --Thackeray.

Bid hook, a small boat hook.

Chain hook. See under Chain.

Deck hook, a horizontal knee or frame, in the bow of a ship, on which the forward part of the deck rests.

Hook and eye, one of the small wire hooks and loops for fastening together the opposite edges of a garment, etc.

Hook bill (Zo["o]l.), the strongly curved beak of a bird.

Hook ladder, a ladder with hooks at the end by which it can be suspended, as from the top of a wall.

Hook motion (Steam Engin.), a valve gear which is reversed by V hooks.

Hook squid, any squid which has the arms furnished with hooks, instead of suckers, as in the genera Enoploteuthis and Onychteuthis.

Hook wrench, a wrench or spanner, having a hook at the end, instead of a jaw, for turning a bolthead, nut, or coupling.

Hook

Hook\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Hooked; p. pr. & vb. n. Hooking.]

1. To catch or fasten with a hook or hooks; to seize, capture, or hold, as with a hook, esp. with a disguised or baited hook; hence, to secure by allurement or artifice; to entrap; to catch; as, to hook a dress; to hook a trout.

Hook him, my poor dear, . . . at any sacrifice. --W. Collins.

2. To seize or pierce with the points of the horns, as cattle in attacking enemies; to gore.

3. To steal. [Colloq. Eng. & U.S.]

To hook on, to fasten or attach by, or as by, hook.

Hook

Hook\, v. i. To bend; to curve as a hook.

Hook

Hook\, v. i. To move or go with a sudden turn; hence [Slang or Prov. Eng.], to make off; to clear out; -- often with it. "Duncan was wounded, and the escort hooked it." --Kipling.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : hook
Spanish: anzuelo,
German: der Angelhaken,
Japanese: つり針
More Translations »

hook 
O.E. hoc, perhaps related to O.E. haca "bolt," from P.Gmc. *khokaz/*khakan- (cf. Du. haak, Ger. Haken "hook"), from PIE *keg- "bent object" (cf. Rus. kogot "claw"). For spelling, see hood. Boxing sense of "short, swinging blow with the elbow bent" is from 1898. Fig. sense was in M.E. (see hooker); hooked "addicted" is from 1925, originally in ref. to narcotics. By hook or by crook (c.1380) probably alludes to tools of professional thieves. Hook, line, and sinker "completely" is 1838, a metaphor from angling.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: hook
Pronunciation: 'huk
Function: noun
1 : an instrument used in surgery to take hold of tissue hook> hook>
2 : an anatomical part that resembles a hook
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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HOOK
? Object Oriented Kernel. Delphia. An object-oriented extension of Delphia Prolog.
[The Jargon File]

hook programming
A software or hardware feature included in order to simplify later additions or changes by a user.
For example, a simple program that prints numbers might always print them in base 10, but a more flexible version would let a variable determine what base to use; setting the variable to 5 would make the program print numbers in base 5. The variable is a simple hook. An even more flexible program might examine the variable and treat a value of 16 or less as the base to use, but treat any other number as the address of a user-supplied routine for printing a number. This is a hairy but powerful hook; one can then write a routine to print numbers as Roman numerals, say, or as Hebrew characters, and plug it into the program through the hook.
Often the difference between a good program and a superb one is that the latter has useful hooks in judiciously chosen places. Both may do the original job about equally well, but the one with the hooks is much more flexible for future expansion of capabilities.
Emacs, for example, is *all* hooks.
The term "user exit" is synonymous but much more formal and less hackish.
(1997-06-25)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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Hook

(1.) Heb. hah, a "ring" inserted in the nostrils of animals to which a cord was fastened for the purpose of restraining them (2 Kings 19:28; Isa. 37:28, 29; Ezek. 29:4; 38:4). "The Orientals make use of this contrivance for curbing their work-beasts...When a beast becomes unruly they have only to draw the cord on one side, which, by stopping his breath, punishes him so effectually that after a few repetitions he fails not to become quite tractable whenever he begins to feel it" (Michaelis). So God's agents are never beyond his control. (2.) Hakkah, a fish "hook" (Job 41:2, Heb. Text, 40:25; Isa. 19:8; Hab. 1:15). (3.) Vav, a "peg" on which the curtains of the tabernacle were hung (Ex. 26:32). (4.) Tsinnah, a fish-hooks (Amos 4:2). (5.) Mazleg, flesh-hooks (1 Sam. 2:13, 14), a kind of fork with three teeth for turning the sacrifices on the fire, etc. (6.) Mazmeroth, pruning-hooks (Isa. 2:4; Joel 3:10). (7.) 'Agmon (Job 41:2, Heb. Text 40:26), incorrectly rendered in the Authorized Version. Properly a rush-rope for binding animals, as in Revised Version margin.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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hook

In addition to the idioms beginning with hook, also see by hook or crook; off the hook; on one's own account (hook).

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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