Adjacent Words

Hook definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

HOOK, n.
1. A piece of iron or other metal bent into a curve for catching, holding and sustaining any thing; as a hook for catching fish; a teeter-hook; a chimney-hook; a pot-hook, etc.
2. A snare; a trap.
3. A curving instrument for cutting grass or grain; a sickle; an instrument for cutting or lopping.
4. That part of a hinge which is fixed or inserted in a post. Whence the phrase, to be off the hooks, to be unhinged, to be disturbed or disordered.
5. A forked timber in a ship, placed on the keel.
6. A catch; an advantage. [Vulgar.]
7. In husbandry, a field sown two years running. [Local.]
By hook and by crook, one way or other; by any means, direct or indirect.
HOOK, v.t. To catch with a hook; as, to hook a fish.
1. To seize and draw, as with a hook.
2. To fasten with a hook.
3. To entrap; to ensnare.
4. To draw by force or artifice.
To hook on, to apply a hook.
HOOK, v.i. To bend; to be curving.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a catch for locking a door
2: a sharp curve or crook; a shape resembling a hook [syn: hook, crotchet]
3: anything that serves as an enticement [syn: bait, come- on, hook, lure, sweetener]
4: a mechanical device that is curved or bent to suspend or hold or pull something [syn: hook, claw]
5: a curved or bent implement for suspending or pulling something
6: a golf shot that curves to the left for a right-handed golfer; "he took lessons to cure his hooking" [syn: hook, draw, hooking]
7: a short swinging punch delivered from the side with the elbow bent
8: a basketball shot made over the head with the hand that is farther from the basket [syn: hook shot, hook] v
1: fasten with a hook [ant: unhook]
2: rip off; ask an unreasonable price [syn: overcharge, soak, surcharge, gazump, fleece, plume, pluck, rob, hook] [ant: undercharge]
3: make a piece of needlework by interlocking and looping thread with a hooked needle; "She sat there crocheting all day" [syn: crochet, hook]
4: hit a ball and put a spin on it so that it travels to the left
5: take by theft; "Someone snitched my wallet!" [syn: hook, snitch, thieve, cop, knock off, glom]
6: make off with belongings of others [syn: pilfer, cabbage, purloin, pinch, abstract, snarf, swipe, hook, sneak, filch, nobble, lift]
7: hit with a hook; "His opponent hooked him badly"
8: catch with a hook; "hook a fish"
9: to cause (someone or oneself) to become dependent (on something, especially a narcotic drug) [syn: addict, hook]
10: secure with the foot; "hook the ball"
11: entice and trap; "The car salesman had snared three potential customers" [syn: hook, snare]
12: approach with an offer of sexual favors; "he was solicited by a prostitute"; "The young man was caught soliciting in the park" [syn: hook, solicit, accost]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Old English h?c; akin to Middle Dutch hoec fishhook, corner, Lithuanian keng? hook Date: before 12th century 1. a. a curved or bent device for catching, holding, or pulling b. something intended to attract and ensnare c. anchor 1 2. something curved or bent like a hook; especially plural fingers 3. a flight or course of a ball that deviates from straight in a direction opposite to the dominant hand of the player propelling it; also a ball following such a course — compare slice 4. a short blow delivered with a circular motion by a boxer while the elbow remains bent and rigid 5. hook shot 6. buttonhook 7. quick or summary removal — used with get or give <the pitcher got the hook after giving up three runs> 8. a device especially in music or writing that catches the attention 9. a selling point or marketing scheme 10. cradle 1b(2) II. verb Date: 13th century transitive verb 1. to form into a hook ; crook 2. a. to seize or make fast by or as if by a hook b. to connect by or as if by a hook — often used with up 3. steal, pilfer 4. to make (as a rug) by drawing loops of yarn, thread, or cloth through a coarse fabric with a hook 5. to hit or throw (a ball) so that a hook results intransitive verb 1. to form a hook ; curve 2. to become hooked 3. to work as a prostitute

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a a piece of metal or other material bent back at an angle or with a round bend, for catching hold or for hanging things on. b (in full fish-hook) a bent piece of wire, usu. barbed and baited, for catching fish. 2 a curved cutting instrument (reaping-hook). 3 a a sharp bend, e.g. in a river. b a projecting point of land (Hook of Holland). c a sand-spit with a curved end. 4 a Cricket & Golf a hooking stroke (see sense 5 of v.). b Boxing a short swinging blow with the elbow bent and rigid. 5 a trap, a snare. 6 a a curved stroke in handwriting, esp. as made in learning to write. b Mus. an added stroke transverse to the stem in the symbol for a quaver etc. 7 (in pl.) sl. fingers. --v. 1 tr. a grasp with a hook. b secure with a hook or hooks. 2 (often foll. by on, up) a tr. attach with or as with a hook. b intr. be or become attached with a hook. 3 tr. catch with or as with a hook (he hooked a fish; she hooked a husband). 4 tr. sl. steal. 5 tr. a Cricket play (the ball) round from the off to the on side with an upward stroke. b (also absol.) Golf strike (the ball) so that it deviates towards the striker. 6 tr. Rugby Football secure (the ball) and pass it backward with the foot in the scrum. 7 tr. Boxing strike (one's opponent) with the elbow bent and rigid. Phrases and idioms: be hooked on sl. be addicted to or captivated by. by hook or by crook by one means or another, by fair means or foul. hook and eye a small metal hook and loop as a fastener on a garment. hook it sl. make off, run away. hook, line, and sinker entirely. hook-nose an aquiline nose. hook-nosed having an aquiline nose. hook-up a connection, esp. an interconnection of broadcasting equipment for special transmissions. off the hook 1 colloq. no longer in difficulty or trouble. 2 (of a telephone receiver) not on its rest, and so preventing incoming calls. off the hooks sl. dead. on one's own hook sl. on one's own account. sling (or take) one's hook sl. = hook it. Derivatives: hookless adj. hooklet n. hooklike adj. Etymology: OE hoc: sense 3 of n. prob. influenced by Du. hoek corner

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Hoof Hoof, n. On the hoof, of cattle, standing (on the hoof); not slaughtered. Hook Hook, n. (Geog.) A spit or narrow cape of sand or gravel turned landward at the outer end; as, Sandy Hook.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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 1913 Dictionary

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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(hooks, hooking, hooked) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. A hook is a bent piece of metal or plastic that is used for catching or holding things, or for hanging things up. One of his jackets hung from a hook. ...curtain hooks... N-COUNT 2. If you hook one thing to another, you attach it there using a hook. If something hooks somewhere, it can be hooked there. Paul hooked his tractor to the car and pulled it to safety. ...one of those can openers that hooked onto the wall. VERB: V n to/onto n, V onto n, also V n prep, V prep 3. If you hook your arm, leg, or foot round an object, you place it like a hook round the object in order to move it or hold it. She latched on to his arm, hooking her other arm around a tree... VERB: V n prep 4. If you hook a fish, you catch it with a hook on the end of a line. At the first cast I hooked a huge fish. VERB: V n 5. A hook is a short sharp blow with your fist that you make with your elbow bent, usually in a boxing match. Lewis desperately needs to keep clear of Ruddock's big left hook. N-COUNT: usu adj N 6. If you are hooked into something, or hook into something, you get involved with it. (mainly AM) I'm guessing again now because I'm not hooked into the political circles... Eager to hook into a career but can't find one right for you? VERB: be/get V-ed into n, V into n 7. If you hook into the Internet, you make a connection with the Internet on a particular occasion so that you can use it. ...an interactive media tent where people will be able to hook into the internet. VERB: V into n • Hook up means the same as hook. ...a UK firm that lets Britons hook up to the Internet. PHRASAL VERB: V P to n 8. If someone gets off the hook or is let off the hook, they manage to get out of the awkward or unpleasant situation that they are in. (INFORMAL) His opponents have no intention of letting him off the hook until he agrees to leave office immediately. PHRASE: V inflects 9. If you take a phone off the hook, you take the receiver off the part that it normally rests on, so that the phone will not ring. PHRASE: PHR after v 10. If your phone is ringing off the hook, so many people are trying to telephone you that it is ringing constantly. (AM) Since war broke out, the phones at donation centers have been ringing off the hook. PHRASE: V inflects 11. by hook or by crook: see crook hook, line, and sinker: see sinker

Easton's Bible Dictionary

(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.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

hook:

(1) chakkah, is rendered "fishhook" in Job 41:1 the Revised Version (British and American) (the King James Version "hook"). the Revised Version (British and American) is correct here and should have used the same translation for the same word in Isa 19:8; Hab 1:15, instead Of retaining AV's "angle." Similarly in Am 4:2, tsinnah, and ciroth dughah, appear to be synonyms for "fishhook," although the former may mean the barb of a fisher's spear. In the New Testament "fishhook" occurs in Mt 17:27 (agkistron).

(2) The "flesh-hook." (mazlegh, mizlaghah) of Ex 27:3, etc., was probably a small pitchfork, with two or three tines.

(3) The "pruning-hook" (mazmerah), used in the culture of the vine (Isa 18:5), was a sickle-shaped knife, small enough to be made from the metal of a spear-point (Isa 2:4; Joe 3:10; Mic 4:3).

(4) waw, is the name given the supports of certain hangings of the tabernacle (Ex 26:32, etc.). Their form is entirely obscure.

(5) chach, is rendered "hook" in 2Ki 19:28 = Isa 37:29; Eze 29:4; 38:4, and Eze 19:4,9 the Revised Version (British and American) (the King James Version "chain"). A ring (compare Ex 35:22), put in the nose of a tamed beast and through which a rope is passed to lead him, is probably meant.

(6) 'aghmon, is rendered "hook" in Job 41:2 the King James Version, but should be "a rope" of rushes or rush-fiber as in the Revised Version (British and American), or, simply, "a rush" (on which small fish are strung).

(7) choach, is "hook" in Job 41:2 the Revised Version (British and American) (the King James Version "thorn," perhaps right) and 2Ch 33:11 the Revised Version margin (text chains," Ay "thorns,"). On both verses see the commentaries

(8) shephattayim, is "hooks" in Eze 40:43 (the Revised Version margin "ledges"), but the meaning of this word is completely unknown, and "hook" is a mere guess.

Burton Scott Easton

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Catch, clasp, hasp, bent holder, curved catch. 2. Snare, trap. 3. Sickle, reaping-hook, reaper, cutter, grasshook. II. v. a. 1. Catch or fasten with a hook, take with a hook. 2. Catch, snare, ensnare, entrap. 3. Bend, curve, make into a hook, make hook-shaped. 4. Fit or furnish with hooks, apply hooks to.

Moby Thesaurus

L, Long Melford, abstract, acquitted, all the way, allure, anchor, anchorage, and, and sinker, angle, angle off, annex, apex, appropriate, arc, arch, argue into, articulate, backhand, backhander, backstroke, bag, bait, bait the hook, baited trap, bar, batten, batten down, belt, bend, bend back, berth, bifurcate, bifurcation, bight, bill, birdlime, bola, bolo punch, bolt, boom, boost, borrow, bow, branch, breakwater, bring over, bring round, bring to reason, buckle, butt, button, cabbage, cant, cape, captivate, capture, catacaustic, catch, catch out, catenary, caustic, charm, chersonese, chevron, circle, clasp, claws, cleared, cleat, clip, clotheshorse, clothespin, clutches, cobweb, coin, collar, come what may, come-on, completely, con, conchoid, convince, cop, coral reef, corner, crane, crank, crib, crook, crotchet, curl, curve, decoy, decoy duck, decurve, deflect, deflection, defraud, delta, diacaustic, digits, dogleg, dome, dovetail, dragnet, draw over, drawcard, drawing card, elbow, ell, ellipse, embezzle, embow, endearment, enmesh, ensnare, ensnarl, entangle, entirely, entoil, entrap, enweb, exonerated, extort, fangs, fastener, festoon, filch, fingernails, fingers, fishhook, flex, fly, foreland, fork, foul, furcate, furcation, gain, gain over, gallows, garter, gibbet, gill net, gin, grab, ground bait, hake, hands, hanger, harpoon, hasp, haymaker, head, headland, hinge, hitch, holder, hook, hook in, hooks, horse, hump, hunch, hyperbola, in the clear, incurvate, incurve, inflect, inflection, inveigle, jam, jaws, jig, joint, knee, knob, land, lariat, lasso, latch, let off, liberate, lift, lime, line, lituus, lock, loop, lure, make off with, mandibles, maxillae, meathooks, mesh, meshes, miter, mitts, mooring, mooring buoy, moorings, mortise, mudhook, mull, nab, nail, nails, naze, ness, net, nick, nip, nippers, nook, noose, off, one-two, out of it, outtalk, palm, parabola, peg, peninsula, persuade, pilfer, pin, pincers, pinch, plug, poach, point, pothook, pounces, pound net, prevail on, prevail upon, prevail with, promontory, purloin, purse seine, quoin, rabbet, recurve, reef, reflect, reflex, remove, retroflex, ring, rip off, rivet, rob, rope, round, round-arm blow, roundhouse, run away with, rustle, sack, sag, sandspit, scarf, screw, scrounge, seine, seize, sell, sell one on, set free, sew, shoplift, short-arm blow, sidewinder, sinus, skewer, slip, snag, snap, snare, snarl, snatch, sniggle, snitch, somehow or other, someway, spar, spear, spinner, spit, spread the toils, springe, spur, squid, staple, steal, stick, stitch, stud, suspenders, suspensory, swag, sway, sweep, swerve, swindle, swing, swipe, tack, take, talk into, talk over, talons, tangle, tangle up with, teeth, thieve, thoroughly, through and through, toggle, toils, tongue, totally, tracery, trap, trawl, trip, turn, unguals, ungulae, uppercut, utterly, vault, veer, vertex, vindicated, walk off with, wangle, wangle into, wear down, wedge, wholly, win, win over, wind, wobbler, yard, yardarm, zag, zig, zigzag, zipper