hook
nounAU, US, NZ, UK /hʊk/ · UK /hɵk/
Etymology From Middle English hoke, from Old English hōc (“angle, point, hook”), from Proto-West Germanic *hōk, from Proto-Germanic *hōkaz, variant of *hakô (“hook”), probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kog-, *keg-, *keng- (“peg, hook, claw”). Cognates Cognate with Scots huke, huik (“hook”), West Frisian and Dutch hoek (“hook, angle, corner”), Low German Hook, Huuk, German Hook (“small cluster of farms”), Faroese høkja (“crutch”), Icelandic hækja (“crutch”), Norn hek (“crutch”), Finnish kuokka (“hoe, mattock”). Related to hake.
37 senses
- 1A rod bent into a curved shape, typically with one end…
- 2A barbed metal hook used for fishing; a fishhook.
- 3Any of various hook-shaped agricultural implements such…
- 4The curved needle used in the art of crochet.
- 5The part of a hinge which is fixed to a post, and on…
- 6A loop shaped like a hook under certain written letters…
- 7A tie-in to a current event or trend that makes a news…
- 8A snare; a trap.
- 9An advantageous hold.
- 10The projecting points of the thighbones of cattle…
- 11Removal or expulsion from a group or activity.
- 12A field sown two years in succession.
- 13A grasp (of), an attachment (to).
- 14A brief, punchy opening statement intended to get…
- 15A gimmick or element of a creative work intended to be…
- 16A finesse.
- 17A jack (the playing card).
- 18A sharp bend or angle in the course or length of an…
- 19A spit or narrow cape of sand or gravel turned landward…
- 20A catchy musical phrase which forms the basis of a popular song.
- 21A ship's anchor.
- 22Part of a system's operation that can be intercepted to…
- 23An instance of playing a word perpendicular to a word…
- 24A diacritical mark shaped like the upper part of a…
- 25A háček.
- 26A curveball.
- 27a basketball shot in which the offensive player, usually…
- 28A ball that is rolled in a curved line.
- 29a type of punch delivered with the arm rigid and…
- 30A type of shot played by swinging the bat in a…
- 31A golf shot that (for the right-handed player) curves…
- 32The amount of spin placed on a bowling ball.
- 33Any of the chevrons denoting rank.
- 34A prostitute.
- 35A pickpocket.
- 36Synonym of shoulder (“the part of a wave that has not…
- 37A knee-shaped wooden join connecting the keel to the…
A rod bent into a curved shape, typically with one end free and the other end secured to a rope or other attachment.
- "If I were a pirate and lost my hand, I would ask them to replace it with a computer mouse rather than a hook. I use a computer mouse all day, and I only use a hook three to five times a day."¶ -Emma Stone¶ On hooks2019 February 19, Clickhole, archived from the original on 14 Jul 2022, This quote is falsely attributed to Emma Stone for humorous effect:
A barbed metal hook used for fishing; a fishhook.
Any of various hook-shaped agricultural implements such as a billhook.
- Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep, / Drowsed with the fume of poppies, while thy hook / Spares the next swath and all its twinèd flowers: [...]1819 September 19, John Keats, “To Autumn”, in Lamia, Isabella, the Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems, London: […] [Thomas Davison] for Taylor and Hessey, […], published 1820, →OCLC, stanza 2, page 138:
The curved needle used in the art of crochet.
The part of a hinge which is fixed to a post, and on which a door or gate hangs and turns.
A loop shaped like a hook under certain written letters, for example, g and j.
A tie-in to a current event or trend that makes a news story or editorial relevant and timely.
A snare; a trap.
- A shop of all the qualities, that man Loues woman for, besides that hooke of Wiuing,1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene v]:
An advantageous hold.
- “What makes you so sure that nobody knows you've got a hook into him?” Ward asked.2020, Joel W. Barrows, Deep Red Cover:
In plural The projecting points of the thighbones of cattle; called also hook bones.
Informal Removal or expulsion from a group or activity.
- He is not handling this job, so we're giving him the hook.
Agriculture, Business, Lifestyle A field sown two years in succession.
Informal A grasp (of), an attachment (to).
- Much of the Two in Twenty humor is insider stuff; this soap is clearly made for lesbians who have been around the city block, with a few road trips to Michigan. Gay men may love it as well, and others with a hook into contemporary urban dyke life.1988 February 7, Elizabeth Pincus, “A Romp Through Lavender Land”, in Gay Community News, volume 15, number 29, page 7:
- If you're struggling to get a hook on the scale of it, that's the North Stand at Leicester Tigers, plus six Peter Crouches, or half a Clock Tower.2022 September 12, leicsmiscellany, Twitter:
Authorship, Broadcasting, Communications, Film, Journalism, Literature, Media, Publishing, Television, Writing A brief, punchy opening statement intended to get attention from an audience, reader, or viewer, and make them want to continue to listen to a speech, read a book, or watch a play.
Human sciences, Linguistics, Narratology, Sciences A gimmick or element of a creative work intended to be attention-grabbing for the audience; a compelling idea for a story that will be sure to attract people's attention.
- The hook of Good Boys, Hollywood's latest odyssey of comic adolescent mischief, is that the kids behaving badly are, for once, truly kids.2019 August 14, A. A. Dowd, “Good Boys Puts a Tween Spin on the R-rated Teen Comedy, to Mostly Funny Effect”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 04 Mar 2021:
Card games, Games Slang A jack (the playing card).
A sharp bend or angle in the course or length of an object (e.g. a bend in a river, etc.).
Geography, Natural sciences A spit or narrow cape of sand or gravel turned landward at the outer end, such as Sandy Hook in New Jersey.
Entertainment, Lifestyle, Music A catchy musical phrase which forms the basis of a popular song.
- The song's hook snared me.
- Guitarist Jade Puget and vocalist Davey Havok have distilled AFI’s strengths (a ferocious, post-hardcore rhythmic backbone; goth-tinctured, post-punky guitars; and Havok’s desperate, dramatic croon) into 14 taut, hook-driven songs.2017 January 20, Annie Zaleski, “AFI sounds refreshed and rejuvenated on its 10th album, AFI (The Blood Album)”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 15 Apr 2017:
Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Programming, Sciences Part of a system's operation that can be intercepted to change or augment its behaviour.
- We've added hooks to allow undefined message types to be handled with custom code.
- In lieu of those unneeded hooks, write code to fail fast and prevent gaps from becoming a problem.2015, Rachel Alt-Simmons, Agile by Design, page 182:
Scrabble, Board games, Games An instance of playing a word perpendicular to a word already on the board, adding a letter to the start or the end of the word to form a new word.
- Setup plays can also be made when you do not have the needed letter but believe your opponent doesn't know the hook owing to its obscurity.2003, Andrew Fisher, David Webb, The Art of Scrabble, →ISBN, page 58:
Media, Publishing, Typography A diacritical mark shaped like the upper part of a question mark, as in ỏ.
Media, Publishing, Typography Rare A háček.
- Common diacritics in Slavonic language are the hook ˇ (as in haček – Czech for ‘hook’) and the stroke ´ (robić – Polish for ‘do/make’).2003, Language Issues, XV-XVIII, page 36:
- In Czech, palatalization is normally indicated by the symbol ˇ, called haček or “hook.”2003, David Adams, The Song and Duet Texts of Antonín Dvořák, page 168:
1 more example
- 2004, Keesing’s Record of World Events L:i–xii, page unknown In detailing the proposed shortening of the Czech Republic to Česko…the hook (hacek) erroneously appeared over the letter “e” instead of the “C”.
› Senses relating to sports.
Ball games, Baseball, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports A curveball.
- He threw a hook in the dirt.
Ball games, Basketball, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports a basketball shot in which the offensive player, usually turned perpendicular to the basket, gently throws the ball with a sweeping motion of his arm in an upward arc with a follow-through which ends over his head. Also called hook shot.
- However, for pins on the bowler's right, such as the 3, 6, 9, or 10, move more toward the center of the foul line if you bowl a straight ball or slightly to the left of the center of the foul line if you bowl a hook.1969, Harold Keith, Sports and Games, page 102:
Boxing, Government, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Martial arts, Military, Politics, Sports, War a type of punch delivered with the arm rigid and partially bent and the fist travelling nearly horizontally mesially along an arc
- The heavyweight delivered a few powerful hooks that staggered his opponent.
- American Ward was too quick and too slick for his British rival, landing at will with razor sharp jabs and hooks and even bullying Froch at times.2011 December 18, Ben Dirs, “Carl Froch outclassed by dazzling Andre Ward”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 10 Apr 2022:
Ball games, Cricket, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports A type of shot played by swinging the bat in a horizontal arc, hitting the ball high in the air to the leg side, often played to balls which bounce around head height.
The amount of spin placed on a bowling ball.
Slang A prostitute.
- I was talkin' to a couple of the 'hooks' (female prostitutes) I know.1983, G. W. Levi Kamel, Downtown Street Hustlers, page 160:
- He preceded me to Dartmoor, where I found his fame even more loudly trumpeted than ever, especially by Manchester “hooks” (pickpockets), who boast of being the rivals of the “Cocks,” or Londoners, in the art of obtaining other people's property without paying for it.1885, Michael Davitt, Leaves from a Prison Diary, page 18:
- "Everybody's a tool over there. Everybody's a hook, except them four guys on the points of the compass. They are eight or ten strong over there." But all professional pickpockets, however expert or however clumsy, operate on the basis of the situation just outlined.2003, David W. Maurer, Whiz Mob: A Correlation of the Technical Argot of Pickpockets with Their Behavior Pattern, page 58:
Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports, Surfing Synonym of shoulder (“the part of a wave that has not yet broken”).
- This maneuver involves a sharp turn, back into the hook of the wave.1963, Grant W. Kuhns, On Surfing, page 67:
Nautical, Transport Historical A knee-shaped wooden join connecting the keel to the stem (post forming the frontmost part of the bow) or the sternpost in cog-like vessels or similar vessels.
- Derived terms
171 terms
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- grappling hook