hook up meaning: definition, quotations

hook up

verb

8 senses

› To hook something together.

To assemble the parts of a mechanism, especially by connecting wires.

To connect to something like a power supply or a signal source.

The suspect was hooked up to a lie detector.
An artificial kidney these days still means a refrigerator-sized dialysis machine. Such devices mimic[…]real kidneys[…]. But they are nothing like as efficient, and can cause bleeding, clotting and infection—not to mention inconvenience for patients, who typically need to be hooked up to one three times a week for hours at a time.2013 June 1, “A better waterworks”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 5 (Technology Quarterly):

› To associate or socialize with someone.

Slang, Followed by with To form an association (with) someone.

The last time Madonna was indisputably on point, she had hooked up with French producer Mirwais for Music (2000) and the sensuous possibilities of club culture.2019 June 8, Kitty Empire, “Madonna: Madame X review – a splendidly bizarre return to form”, in The Guardian:

Slang, Followed by with To connect (someone) (with) another person.

One site, PearPop.com, hooks TikTok or Instagram influencers up with fans to create duetted or stitched videos that fans pay for. This can be an effective way to build followers fast.⁹ Model Leah Svoboda added 120,000 followers after a PearPop duet with megainfluencer Anna Shumate.¹⁰2022, Brian Boxer Wachler, Influenced: The Impact of Social Media on Our Perception, Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, pages 186–187:

Slang, Followed by with To have a casual sexual experience with another person, usually without any future relationship intended.

You work out so you can increase your chances of hooking up. That means having the kind of physique that looks good in clothes and looks even better naked.2008, Nate Green, Built for Show, page 3:
Mr. Woo said a Grindr survey of its users found that two-thirds of them were using the application to find new friends, to network or to kill time, as well as to hook up.2013 March 10, Jenna Wortham, “How Grindr Is Changing the Way We Connect”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 14 Apr 2023:

› To sell or supply something.

Idiomatic, Slang To supply someone with goods or services.

Idiomatic, Slang To deal drugs; to sell contraband.

Idiomatic, Slang To give a good deal for buying something; to give something for free or to give more than the recipient is entitled to.