▪ I. crook, n. and a.
(krʊk)
Forms: 3–4 croc, 3–6 croke, 4–5 Sc. and north. cruk, 4–6 crok, kroke, 5–6 cruke, 5–8 crooke, 6–9 Sc. cruik, 4– crook.
[ME. crōk, crōc, app. a. ON. krókr (Sw. krok, Da. krog) crook, hook, barb, trident; unknown elsewhere in Teutonic, but app. belonging to the same ablaut series (krak-, krôk), as OHG. chracho, chracco hook; cf. ON. kraki boat-hook.
The parallelism of form and meaning with croche, crose, is notable in sense 4. Relationship between the ablaut series krak-, krôk, and that to which crutch belongs, cannot at present be asserted.]
A. n.
1. An instrument, weapon, or tool of hooked form; a hook. spec. † a. A reaping-hook, sickle; b. A hook for grappling or catching; c. A hook or bent iron on which anything is hung; e.g. one of the iron hooks on which a gate hangs: esp. in ‘crooks and bands’ (see band n.1 3); a hook in a chimney for hanging a pot or kettle on, a pot-hook; hence phr. as black as the crook (Sc.).
| c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 99/241 And hire bresten fram hire bodi with Irene crokes rende. a 1300 Cursor M. 18104 (Cott.) He..brast þe brasen yates sa strang, And stelen croc þat þai wit hang. c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. A. 40 Quen corne is coruen with crokez kene. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 640 Cleopatras, In gooth the grapenel so ful of crokis. c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. i. 1161 Rakes, crookes, adses, and bycornes. 1453 Mem. Ripon (Surtees) III. 160 Pro nayles et crokes emptis pro magnis portis. 1522 Test. Ebor. (Surtees) V. 153, j blake worsted kirtle, and the gretter golde crokes. 1587 Vestry Bks. (Surtees) 26 For fowre bands & crookes, vj d. 1588 A. King tr. Canisius' Catech. 177 As ane dur is tourned on the cruuks (quhilk in latin ar called cardines). 1600 Surflet Countrie Farme i. xxiv. 152 Hang them [pigs when killed] to the crookes set vp in some vaulted roofe. a 1774 Fergusson Election Poems (1845) 40 Till, in a birn, beneath the crook, They're singit wi a scowder. 1826 Scott Diary 17 Jan., With a visage as black as the crook. 1848 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. IX. ii. 420 The ends of each rafter are turned in the form of a gate-crook. 1858 R. S. Surtees Ask Mamma lvi. 256 From whose lofty ceiling hung the crooks, from whence used to dangle the..legs of..mutton. |
† 2. A crooked claw, as of a beast or fiend; passing into sense ‘clutch’. (Cf. clutch n.1 1–3.)
In reference to fiends the sense is often doubtful; some hooked or barbed instrument may have been meant.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 102 (Cleop. MS.) Þe cat of helle..drouh al ut..wið crokede crokes. Ibid. 174 Uorte worpen upon ou his crokes [MS. T. hore clokes, MS. C. hise cleches]. a 1300 Cursor M. 23252 (Cott.) Strang paine es it on þam to loke, and namli laght vntil þair crok. Ibid. 25060 Þas oþer þat his lagh forsok, he kest þam in þat feindes croke. a 1400 Cov. Myst. 209 Out of thi [Satan's]..cruel crook By Godys grace man xal be redempt. 14.. in Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1866) 98 The deville caught him in his croke. |
† 3. A barbed spear. (So in ONorse.) Obs.
| c 1435 Torr. Portugal 1590 He bare on his nek a croke..It was twelfe ffeete and more. Ibid. 1604 Sith he pullith at his croke, So fast in to the flesh it toke That oute myȝt he gete it nought. |
4. a. A shepherd's staff, having one end curved or hooked, for catching the hinder leg of a sheep.
| c 1430 Lydg. Chorle & Byrde xlviii. in Ashm. 223 A Chepys Croke to the ys better than a Launce. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 104 Croke, or scheype hoke, pedum. 1635 Cowley Davideis i. 2, I Sing the Man who Judah's Scepter bore In that right hand which held the Crook before. 1720 Gay Dione iii. ii, Leaning on her crook Stood the sad nymph. 1883 E. Pennell-Elmhirst Cream Leicestersh. 240 Where the sickle holds the place of the shepherd's crook. |
b. The pastoral staff of a bishop, abbot or abbess, shaped like a shepherd's staff; a crosier.
| c 1386 Chaucer Friar's T. 19 (Tyrwh.) Er the bishop hent hem with his crook [Harl. & 6-text hook]. c 1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode iii. xxiv. (1869) 149 This crook and this S shewen wel that j am an abbesse. 1851 Longfellow Gold. Leg. i. ii. 23 The Priests came flocking in..With all their crosiers and their crooks. |
5. a. Any hooked or incurved appendage, e.g. a tendril of a plant, one of the hooks on the fruit of the burdock, etc.; the curved or hooked part of anything, e.g. of a walking-stick; the ‘crosier’ of a fern.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. de P.R. xvii. clxxvii. (1495) 717 Those bondes or crokes of the vyne by the whyche it takyth and byclyppyth trees and stalkes. 1578 Lyte Dodoens i. viii. 15 Upon the braunches there groweth small bullets..garnisshed full of little crookes or hookes. 1665 Hooke Microgr. 2 The..thorns, or crooks, or hairs of leaves. 1850 Florist Mar. 87 The young fronds of the..Ferns uncurling their crooks. |
† b. A curl or roll of hair formerly worn. Obs. (Cf. crocket1 1.)
| c 1308 Sat. People Kildare x. in E.E.P. (1862) 154 Þoȝ ȝur crune be ischave, fair beþ ȝur crokes [rime bokes]. c 1325 Poem Times Edw. II in Pol. Songs (Camden) 327 A myrour and a koeverchef to binde wid his crok [rime bitok]. ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 3352 Cho kembede myne heuede That the krispane kroke to my crownne raughte. [1721 Bailey, Crok, the turning up of the hair into curls.] |
c. A crooked or incurved piece of timber.
| 1802 Naval Chron. VIII. 373 The..futtocks are all got from natural grown crooks. 1806 Hull Advertiser 11 Jan. 2/2 Oak Timber, consisting of Knees and Crooks, peculiarly well adapted for Ship Building. |
d. Bell-founding. (See quots.)
| 1857 W. C. Lukis Acc. Ch. Bells 21 The crook is a kind of compass formed of wood, and is used for making the moulds. 1872 Ellacombe Ch. Bells Devon i. 7 The core is first..moulded as described by the action of the crook. |
6. A small space, or piece of ground, of a crooked shape; an odd corner, nook.
| 1417 Searchers Verdicts in Surtees Misc. (1890) 11 A cruke of Robert Feriby grund. c 1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode i. lvi. (1869) 34 In sum anglet or in sum..crook or cornere. 1717 N. Riding Rec. VIII. 23 Other small parts [of a farm] called crookes and crinkles. 1839–40 W. Irving Wolfert's R. (1855) 33 It was full of nooks and crooks, and chambers of all sorts and sizes. |
† 7. pl. Brackets (in printing), parentheses. Obs. (Cf. crotchet 8.)
| 1641 Milton Ch. Govt. i. (1851) 116 Though it be cunningly interpolisht..with crooks and emendations. 1762 Sterne Tr. Shandy vi. xxxi, Among my father's papers, with here and there an insertion of his own, betwixt two crooks, thus [ ]. |
8. Musical Instr. a. An accessory piece of curved tubing to be added to a metal wind instrument, as a horn or cornet, to lower the pitch, so as to adapt it to the key of the piece of music in which it is to be used. b. The crooked metal tube connecting the body with the reed of a bassoon.
| 1842 S. Lover Handy Andy xviii, The trumpeter..pulling out one crook from another. 1880 Grove Dict. Mus. I. 150 [The bassoon] consists of five pieces..the crook, wing, butt, long joints, and bell. Ibid. I. 750 The difference of pitch [in the Horn] being provided by the various crooks. |
9. A support or frame of wood, bent in a particular way, formerly slung in pairs panier-wise across the saddle of a pack-horse for carrying loads. (Somerset and Devon.)
| 1657 R. Ligon Barbadoes (1673) 89 Small pack-saddles, and crooks..laying upon each Crook a faggot. c 1710 C. Fiennes Diary (1888) 225 Carryages on horses backes..with sort of crookes of wood like yokes either side..in which they stow y⊇ corne and so tie it with cords. 1791 J. Collinson Hist. Somerset II. 34 The crops are..carried in with crooks on horses. 1850 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XI. ii. 739 The corn is often harvested in crooks on horses' backs. 1888 Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. s.v., It used to be as common to say ‘I'll send a horse and crooks’ as it is now to say ‘horse and cart’. [They] are now very rarely seen. |
10. a. The act of crooking; esp. a bending of the knee or of the body in sign of reverence (obs.).
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 1816 Ffor-setten byfore, and eke byhynde, Wyþ crokes ilkon oþer gan bynde. 1603 B. Jonson Sejanus i. i, He is now the court god; and well applied With sacrifice of knees, of crooks, and cringes. 1857 Hughes Tom Brown i. iii, A well-aimed crook of the heel or thrust of the loin. |
b. In polo, an act of crooking an opponent's stick (see crook v.1 6).
| 1935 Times 18 June 5/5 Captain Ansell..scored with a 60 yards penalty given for a foul crook. |
11. A bending or curve, a convolution, e.g. of a river, path, the intestines, etc.
| 1486 Bk. St. Alban's E vij b, Of the nomblis..theys oder crokes and Roundulis bene. 1558 T. Phaer æneid ii. (R.), Through lanes and crokes and darknes most we past. 1585 James I Ess. Poesie (Arb.) 16 Sea eylis rare, that be Myle longs, in crawling cruikis of sixtie pace. 1609 C. Butler Fem. Mon. v. (1623) M ij, Let it downe by a cord tied to some crooke of the bough. 1686 Burnet Trav. v. (1750) 253 The Rhine maketh a Crook before it. 1885 Harper's Mag. Mar. 594/1 Old homely ways, whose crooks..she knew by heart. 1887 Stevenson Underwoods i. xiv. 29 The crooks of Tweed. |
† 12. fig. A crooked piece of conduct; a trick, artifice, wile; deceit, guile, trickery. Obs.
| c 1200 Ormin 11635 Þa wære he þurrh þe deofless croc I gluternesse fallenn. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 125 Wið alle hise crefti crokes. a 1300 Cursor M. 740 (Cott.) Þe nedder..þat mast kan bath on crok and craft. 1393 Gower Conf. III. 161 He soughte nought the worldes croke [rime boke] For veine honour ne for richesse. c 1460 Towneley Myst. 145 Withe sich wylys and crokes. a 1556 Cranmer To Gardiner (T.), For all your bragges, hookes, and crookes, you have such a fall. 1594 Willobie Avisa 35 The wise will shunne such craftie crookes. |
13. One whose conduct is crooked; a dishonest person, swindler, sharper. orig. U.S. colloq. Now esp. a professional criminal or an associate of criminals.
| 1879 Chicago Tribune 6 Feb. 5/2 The Times still continues its attacks upon the Government officials in the interest of the Pekin and Peoria crooks. 1882 Sydney Slang Dict. 3/1 Crook, a thief and burglar. One who gets his living on the best. 1886 American Local Newspr., The photographs of several English cracksmen along with one of a New York crook. 1891 H. Campbell Darkness & Daylight 470 Gamblers, pickpockets and other ‘crooks’ abound. 1891 The Sun (N.Y.) 19 June 6/4 (Funk), The slang word ‘crook’ now bids fair to be recognized in the statutes and consequently to be adopted as good English in the courts of law. A bill regulating admissions to the prison at Marquette excludes, among other classes of individuals specified, those known to be ‘crooks’ in police parlance. 1896 Westm. Gaz. 17 July 2/1 A crook what kep a little crib Dad went to when things was too lively. 1903 Daily Chron. 3 Nov. 5/4 All the saloon-keepers, and gamblers, and crooks, and confidence men, in fact all the predatory elements of society are..working for a Tammany victory. 1909 Ibid. 19 June 3/2 The people here..are clever and rather interesting scamps. Were they on a slightly lower social level they would be called ‘crooks’. 1949 [see crookery]. 1953 ‘M. Innes’ Christmas at Candleshoe xiii. 150 ‘The fact is that a gang of crooks―’ ‘I beg your pardon?’ Miss Candleshoe is wholly at sea. ‘The fact is that a band of robbers is prowling about outside this house now.’ |
14. dial. a. ‘The crick in the neck; a painful stiffness, the effect of cold’. Craven Gloss. 1828. b. ‘A disease of sheep, whereby their heads are drawn on one side.’ Ibid.
15. Phrases. a. † on crook, a-crook: crookedly, in a crooked course. Obs. on the crook: dishonestly. slang.
| 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 53 Humber..renneþ first a crook out of þe south side of York. c 1425 Hampole's Psalter Metr. Pref. 38 Many out of bales browȝt, þ{supt} in lywyng went on croke. 1500–1881 [see acrook]. 1879 Macm. Mag. 503 (Farmer) Which he had bought on the crook. |
b. crook in one's lot: something untoward or distressing in one's experience: an affliction, trial. Sc.
| a 1732 T. Boston (title), The Crook in the Lot; or the Wisdom and Sovereignty of God displayed in the afflictions of men. Ibid. (1767) 14 The crook in the lot is the special trial appointed for every one. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xii, I trust to bear even this crook in my lot with submission. 1835 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. I. 32 It is positively a great crook in my present lot. |
16. by hook or by crook: see hook.
B. adj.
1. a. [Arising probably from dissolution of the combinations crook-back, etc., in which crook- was perhaps originally the n., or the vb. stem; though it may have been shortened from crookt, crooked: cf. C b.] = crooked.
| 1508 Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 275 Weil couth I claw his cruke bak. 1647 H. More Insomn. Philos. xxiv, Interpreting right whatever seemed crook. |
b. ‘Bent’, stolen. Criminals' slang.
| 1900 Sessions' Paper Central Criminal Court CXXXII. 462, I brought it from you b― straight; I did not know it was crook. |
2. Austral. and N.Z. a. Of things: bad, inferior; out of order, unsatisfactory; unpleasant, dreadful.
| 1898 Bulletin (Sydney) 17 Dec. Red Page/2, Krook or kronk is bad. 1915 E. G. Pilling Anzac Memory (1933) iv. 62 Had a very crook night, sickness, cramp, dysentery. 1917 E. Miller Camps, Tramps & Trenches (1939) ix. 52 The rifle issued to me was a crook one that fired high and left. 1918 N.Z.E.F. Chrons. 5 July 250/2 It's crook to stay for years. 1929 W. Smyth Girl from Mason Creek xv. 163 ‘Cow of a job,’ he muttered... ‘It's a bit crook for yer.’ 1931 V. Palmer Separate Lives 271 It can't be helped now. When things go crook in the beginning [etc.]. 1934 A. Russell Tramp-Royal in Wild Australia xvii. 106, I wasn't feeling too well at the time—too much crook water an' not enough decent tucker, I suppose. 1945 J. Henderson Gunner Inglorious iii. 18 A cigarette first thing in the morning before a cup of tea, tastes crook. 1947 ‘A. P. Gaskell’ Big Game 32 Isn't it crook about Keith and Gordon [being killed]? 1958 ‘N. Shute’ Rainbow & Rose 64, I never knew it [sc. the weather] to be so crook. 1968 K. Weatherly Roo Shooter 111 You know how the old wagon is crook in water. |
b. Dishonest, unscrupulous, ‘crooked’.
| 1911 L. Stone Jonah i. xi. 132 Yous don't think any worse o' me 'cause Lil's crook, do yer? 1916 ‘Anzac’ On Anzac Trail 44 Protesting..in lurid language against what they styled ‘a crook trick’. 1929 C. C. Martindale Risen Sun 173 When sport goes crook, what can remain wholesome? 1933 Bulletin (Sydney) 6 Sept. 8/2 They think..that the system is ‘crook’. 1936 F. Sargeson Conversation with Uncle 18 They said it [sc. pulling a race-horse] was a crook business right through. 1953 J. W. Brimblecombe in J. C. Reid Kiwi Laughs (1961) 178 His mentor had a crook deal put over him. |
c. Irritable, bad-tempered, angry; esp. in phr. to go crook (at or on), to become angry (at); to lose one's temper (with); to upbraid, rebuke.
| 1911 L. Stone Jonah ii. iv. 190 Yer niver 'ad no cause ter go crook on me, but I ain't complainin'. 1916 C. J. Dennis Songs of Sentimental Bloke 78 An' there I'm standin' like a gawky lout..An' wonders wot 'e's goin' crook about. 1933 P. Cadey Broken Pattern xviii. 197 If Phœbe's gone crook at you..she's had some good reason for it. 1937 N. Marsh Vintage Murder vii. 70 See him when he goes crook!.. His eyes fairly flashed. 1946 P. Freedman in Coast to Coast 1945 136 Her ma's always going crook because I break the plaster. 1959 Listener 15 Jan. 115/2, I cut off his boot to stop the foot swelling. I remember he went crook on me: he said they were new, and I'd darn well have to buy him a new pair. 1964 P. White Burnt Ones 295 When his mum went crook, and swore, he was too aware of teeth, the rotting brown of nastiness. |
d. Ailing, out of sorts; injured, disabled.
| 1916 C. J. Dennis Songs of Sentimental Bloke 88, I sneaks to bed, an' feels dead crook. 1916 Oil Sheet Dec. 7 Now I've just been vaccinated, and am feeling pretty ‘crook’. 1934 A. Russell Tramp-Royal in Wild Australia xxvii. 178 An' when Dick says he's crook, he's crook. He's out there alone, you know. 1937 N. Marsh Vintage Murder viii. 94 Letting him out just because he kidded he felt crook. Ibid. x. 116 ‘He was looking horribly crook.’ ‘Ill?’ asked Alleyn cautiously. ‘Too right, sir.’ 1938 ‘R. Hyde’ Nor Years Condemn 208 A crook knee and arm. 1952 N. Donnan in Coast to Coast 1951–52 141, I got a crook hip, I can't do heavy work now. 1956 P. White Tree of Man 55 ‘She's crook. It looks like the milk fever,’ he said. 1960 B. Crump Good Keen Man 45 It saves you from getting the crook guts, boy. Ibid. 49 He said he wasn't crook or anything. 1968 K. Weatherly Roo Shooter 28 If I don't go out at least five nights a week the cook thinks I'm crook and gets all worried. |
C. Comb., as crook-like adj.; crook-saddle, a saddle with crooks for carrying loads (cf. 9).
| 1700 Acc. St. Sebastian's in Harl. Misc. I. 413 Their iron bars are brought to the town on horses or mules, on crook-saddles. 1797 Statist. Acc. Scot. XIX. 248 (Stornoway) Horse-loads are..carried in small creels, one on each side of the horse, and fixed by a rope to the crook-saddle. 1888 F. G. Lee in Archæol. LI. 356 A bishop or abbot holding a crook-like pastoral staff. |
b. Parasynthetic combs., as crook-billed, crook-fingered, crook-kneed, crook-legged, crook-lipped, crook-nosed, crook-shouldered, crook-sided, crook-sterned, crook-toothed adjs. See also crook-back, -backed, crook-neck, -necked.
Crooked- was used in the same way from Wyclif onwards.
| 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Bossu, downe backed, crooke shouldered. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. iv. i. 127 My hounds are..Crooke kneed, and dew-lapt, like Thessalian Buls. 1591 Percivall Sp. Dict., Cancajoso, crooklegged. 1591 Sylvester Du Bartas i. v. 515 Crook-tooth'd Lampreys. 1598 Chapman Iliad ii. 684 The crooke-stern'd [ed. c 1611 crookt-stern'd] shippes. 1684 tr. Bonet's Merc. Compit. ix. 334 Oftentimes Children about two years old, when they begin to go, are crook-legged. 1775 S. Crisp in Mad. D'Arblay's Early Diary II. 36 Reduc'd to a level with crook-finger'd Jack! |
▪ II. crook
var. of crock n.5
▪ III. crook, v.1
(krʊk)
Forms: 3–6 croke, 4– crook(e, (6 croock).
[f. crook n.]
1. a. trans. To bend into an angular or curved form; to distort from a straight line; to curve.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 61 Gif he binimeð us ure sihte..oðer us crokeð on fote oðer on honde. 1382 Wyclif Ps. lxviii. 24 The rig of hem euermor crooke thou in. 1398 Trevisa Barth. de P.R. xviii. xix. (1495) 778 Whan camelles take charge vpon them thenne they bende and croke the knees. 1602 Shakes. Ham. iii. ii. 66 And crooke the pregnant hindges of the knee. 1651 Raleigh's Ghost 21 The star of Venus..crooking it self into hornes, as the moon doth. 1862 T. Morrall Needle-making 23 Hardening needles in oil instead of water, as the oil did not crook them so much. 1875 Blackmore A. Lorraine III. v. 69 The air was so full of rheumatism that no man could crook his arm to write a sermon. |
† b. To curl (hair). Obs. rare.
| 1340 Ayenb. 177 Þe men þet doþ zuo grat payne ham to kembe..and ine hare here wel to croki. |
c. to crook one's mou' (Sc.): to distort the mouth in expression of displeasure or ill temper.
| 1724 Ramsay Tea-t. Misc. (1733) I. 86 O kend my minny I were wi' you Illfardly wad she crook her mou. 1803 Mayne Glasgow 31 (Jam.) They, scornfu', toss their head ajee, And crook their mou'. |
d. to crook one's elbow or little finger: to drink alcoholic liquor (esp. with implication of excess). slang.
| 1825 Jamieson Suppl. I. 271/2 To crook the elbow; as, She crooks her elbow, a phrase used of a woman who uses too much freedom with the bottle, q. bending her elbow in reaching the drink to her mouth. 1836 Public Ledger (Philadelphia) 2 Aug. (Th.), William Martin was fined for, as he quaintly expressed it, crooking his little finger too often. 1859 Bartlett Dict. Amer. (ed. 2) s.v., To crook one's elbow or one's little finger, is to tipple. 1875 Besant & Rice With Harp & Crown xix, The secretary..might have done great things in literature but for his unfortunate crook of the elbow. As he only crooks it at night, it does not matter to the hospital. 1924 J. Masefield Sard Harker iii. 251 Sir James has sacked his old man for crooking his little finger: going on the jag, in other words. |
† 2. fig. To bend or turn out of the straight course, or from the direct meaning or intention; to pervert, ‘twist’. Obs.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter lvi. 8 Þai crokid my saule: that is, thai thoght to draghe it fra the luf of god in til the erth. 1382 Wyclif Ps. lvi. 7 Thei myche crookeden [incurvaverunt] my soule. 1393 Gower Conf. II. 144 That she may..Ne speke o word, ne ones loke, But he ne wil it wende and croke, And torne after his own entent. 1545 R. Ascham Toxoph. i. (Arb.) 58 There is no one thinge yat crokes youth more than suche unlefull games. 1607–12 Bacon Ess., Wisdom (Arb.) 184 Hee crooketh them to his owne endes. 1646 J. Gregory Notes & Obs. (1650) 83 The more part..crooke the Prophesie to the Patriarch Abraham. |
3. intr. To have or take a crooked form or direction; to be or become crooked; to bend, curve.
| a 1300 Song of Yesterday 98 in E.E.P. (1862) 135 Me meruayles..Þat god let mony mon croke and elde. 1398 Trevisa Barth. de P.R. vi. i. (1495) 187 In olde aege the body bendyth and crokyth. c 1510 Barclay Mirr. Gd. Manners (1570) B vj, Soone crooketh the same tree that good camoke wilbe. 1579 Fenton Guicciard. viii. (1599) 350 A riuer both large and deepe..goeth crooking on the left hand. 1661 Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. 106 Their hornes crook backwards to their shoulders. 1876 C. D. Warner Wint. Nile 240 Fingers that crook easily. |
† 4. intr. To bend the body in sign of reverence or humility; to bow. Obs. or arch.
| c 1320 R. Brunne Medit. 149 He stode krokyng [v.r. croked] on knees knelyng Afore hys cretures fete syttyng. 1645 Rutherford Tryal & Tri. Faith (1845) 312 That the Sinner may halt and crook. 1841–4 Emerson Ess., Prudence Wks. (Bohn) I. 100 They will shuffle and crow, crook and hide. |
† 5. intr. To turn or bend aside out of the straight course (lit. and fig.). Obs.
| c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 230 He schal not croke in-to þe riȝtte side ne in-to þe left side. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 87/4 Goyng right without crokyng. 1545 R. Ascham Toxoph. ii. (Arb.) 157 It [the snow] flewe not streight, but sometyme it crooked thys waye sometyme that waye. 1607 Topsell Serpents (1653) 743 He must not run directly forward, but winde to and fro, crooking like an Indenture. |
6. trans. In polo, to catch hold of (an opponent's stick) with one's own stick, so as to interfere with his play.
| 1890 G. J. Younghusband Polo in India ii. 21 No player shall crook his adversary's stick unless he is on the same side of the pony as the ball, or immediately behind. 1898 T. B. Drybrough Polo xi. 268 ‘Crooking’ means ‘interposing’ a stick between the ball and an adversary's stick..so as to ‘hook’ and arrest it. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXI. 820/2 They have no off side [in American polo], and it is not permitted to crook the stick of an adversary. |
▪ IV. † crook, v.2 Obs.
Forms: 4–7 crouk(e, 5 (9 dial.) crowk, 6–7 crooke.
[Echoic: cf. croak.
The phonetic relations between crouke, crowke, 17th c. crook, and mod. north dial. crowk are not clear.]
1. intr. To croak. Rarely trans.
| a 1325 E.E. Allit. P. A. 459 He [the raven] croukez for comfort when carayne he fyndez. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 105 Crowken, as cranes, gruo. Crowken, as todes, or frosshes, coaxo. 14.. Metr. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 623 A lytulle frogge crowkyt. 1607 T. Walkington Opt. Glass 150 They crouke harshly. 1617 Wither Fidelia, Fatall Ravens that..Crooke their black Auguries. 1878 Cumbrld. Gloss., Crowk, to croak. ‘The guts crowk’ when the bowels make a rumbling noise. |
2. To coo or crood, as a dove. Cf. crookle.
| 1586 W. Webbe Eng. Poetrie (Arb.) 75 Neither..thy beloude Doues..Nor prettie Turtles trim, vvill cease to crooke. 1611 Cotgr., Geindre..to crooe, crooke, or mourne as a doue. |