Nearby Words
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.
EXPANDsomething 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.
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.
COLLAPSEAlso 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.
EXPAND(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.
COLLAPSEto make hook-shaped; crook.
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Hook, line, and sinker
is always a great word to know.
So is flibbertigibbet. Does it mean:
| a chattering or flighty, light-headed person. |
| an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance. |
verb (used without object)
Verb phrase28.
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.
32.
Idiomshook 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, meet, or become associated with: He never had a decent job until he hooked up with this company.
e.
Informal. to 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.
33.
by hook or by crook, by any means, whether just or unjust, legal or illegal. Also, by hook or crook.
34.
get/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.
EXPANDoff 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: Her brother paid all her bills and got her off the hook.
c.
Slang. extremely or shockingly excellent: Wow, that song is off the hook!
38.
on one's own hook, Informal. on one's own initiative or responsibility; independently.
39.
COLLAPSEon 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:
before 900; 1830–40, Americanism for def. 36; Middle English hoke (noun and v.), Old English hōc (noun); cognate with Dutch hoek hook, angle, corner; akin to German Haken, Old Norse haki
before 900; 1830–40, Americanism for def. 36; Middle English hoke (noun and v.), Old English hōc (noun); cognate with Dutch hoek hook, angle, corner; akin to German Haken, Old Norse haki
Related forms
hook·less, adjective
hook·like, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To hook, line, and sinker
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
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
EXPAND 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.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary
hook, line, and sinker definition
To “fall for something hook, line, and sinker” is to be fooled completely. “Tom doubted that his ruse would fool anybody, but the boss fell for it hook, line, and sinker.” The reference is to fishing tackle.
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
hook definition
|
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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hook, line, and sinker definition
|
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases
hook, line, and sinker
Without reservation, completely, as in He swallowed our excuse hook, line, and sinker. This expression, first recorded in 1865, alludes to a fish swallowing not only the baited hook but the leaden sinker and the entire fishing line between them.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Word Dynamo By Dictionary.com
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