▪ I. hook, n.1
(hʊk)
Forms: 1 hóc (hooc), 2–4 hoc, 3–5 hok, ? 3, 4–6 hoke, 4 Sc. houk, howk, 4–6 Sc. huke, 5–7 hooke, (6 hoocke, 7 Sc. hwick), 7– hook.
[OE. hóc = MLG. hôk, MDu. hoec, Du. hoek, MLG. hôk corner, angle, nook, point of land. In ablaut relation with OE. haca ‘pessulus’, a (? hooked) bolt, and app. also with MDu. hake (? hâke), Du. haak, OHG. hâko, hâkko (also hâggo), mod.Ger. haken, ON. haki, Sw. hake, Da. hage hook: see hake n.2]
I. 1. a. A length of metal, or piece of wood or other material, bent back, or fashioned with a sharp angle, often forming a part of something, as a pole, chain, etc., adapted for catching hold, dragging, sustaining suspended objects, or the like. (Frequently with a qualification indicating shape or use, as boat-hook, chain-hook, chimney-hook, clip-hook, fire-hook, flesh-hook, gaff-hook, hat-hook, meat-hook, pot-hook, tenter-hook, etc.)
| c 900 tr. Bæda's Hist. i. ix. [xii.] (1890) 46 Þa..worhton him hocas, and mid þam tuᵹan hi earmlice adun of þam wealle. c 1000 ælfric Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 107/9 Arpago, uel palum, hooc. c 1150 Semi-Sax. Voc. ibid. 548/21 Uncinus, hoc. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 195/57 Hokes and witthene he let nime: and faste to hire breoste binde. c 1325 Gloss. W. de Biblesw. in Wright Voc. 170 Cliket a cerure, lacche and hok. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints, Katerine 852 Quhelis..of þe quhilkis þe felyis all with scharpe houkis fichit be sall. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 242/1 Hooke [v.r. hoke], hamus, uncus. 1485 Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 49 Hokes to fish the Ankre with..leche hokes..catte hokes. 1495 Ibid. 195 Hokes to hange the ketylles with a chayne of yron to the same. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 243 They had great hookes and grappelers of Iron to cast out of one Ship into another. 1694 R. Burthogge Reason 158 There needs no more of Hooks and Crooks to make the Latter..to stick and hold together. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VI. 20 The Avosetta is chiefly found in Italy,..the bill..turns up like a hook, in an opposite direction to that of the hawk or the parrot. 1823 Scoresby Whale Fishery 69 note, The ice-anchor is a large iron hook, nearly of the shape of the letter S. 1874 Boutell Arms & Arm. iii. 53 Sometimes, this axe has an edge on one side only, when on the other side it has either a hook or a hammer. |
| fig. 1581 G. Pettie tr. Guazzo's Civ. Conv. i. (1586) 9 When..assailed..with the temptation of pleasures..breaking in sunder those hookes. 1818 Jas. Mill Brit. India II. v. vi. 564 The hooks and handles, which the ensnaring system of law, administered by them, afforded in such abundance. |
b. Zool. and
Bot. A recurved and pointed organ or appendage of an animal or plant.
| 1666 J. Davies Hist. Caribby Isls. 84 His mouth is arm'd with two hard hooks extreamly sharp. 1834 McMurtrie Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 376 All the joints of the tarsi are entire, and the hooks of the last present one or two indentations beneath. 1841–71 T. R. Jones Anim. Kingd. (ed. 4) 329 Jaws armed with strong and penetrating hooks for seizing and securing active and struggling prey. 1866 Treas. Bot. 415/2 The hooks of the Teazels come in contact with the surface of the cloth, and thus raise the nap. 1888 Rolleston & Jackson Anim. Life 657 Chitinoid hooks are present in some Taeniadae. |
c. pl. slang. The fingers or hands. So
to get one's hooks on or into: to get hold of.
| 1829 W. Maginn tr. Vidocq's Mem. IV. 261 To his clies my hooks I throw in. 1877 Five Years' Penal Serv. iv. 259 In a week or two a man can bring his hooks and feelers into full working trim again. 1917 E. Wallace Just Men of Cordova x. 169 Put your lamps over my shiners, run your hooks over me Astrakhan collar. 1926 S.P.E. Tract xxiv. 122 Get one's hooks on, get hold of. 1930 ‘E. Queen’ French Powder Myst. xxvii. 230 About these volumes... I noticed a queer hesitancy on your part when I first got my hooks into them. 1954 J. Potts Go, Lovely Rose viii. 41 Maybe he's eloped with that fat Lang dame. She's been trying to get her hooks into him all winter. |
d. A thief, a pickpocket.
slang. (
Cf. hook v. 6,
hooker1 1.)
| 1863 Once a Week IX. 555/1 The party who picks the pocket while the ‘stiff-dropper’ is attracting the victim's attention is called ‘the hook’. 1885 M. Davitt Leaves from Prison Diary I. xi. 106 Hooks, these individuals, who are also known as ‘gunns’ and ‘buzzers’, in prison slang, constitute the pickpocket class in its various specialities. 1901 Westm. Gaz. 4 Sept. 4/1 The very same ‘hook’ was caught..a second time red-handed at another station. 1926 N. Lucas London & its Criminals xviii. 246 The ‘hook’ is the ‘whizzer’ who actually picks the pocket. 1935 A. J. Pollock Underworld Speaks 57/2 Hook, the pickpocket who does the actual stealing. 1968 G. J. Barrett Guilty, be Damned x. 116 We've nothing on him. But then we've nothing on half the hooks in Eastport. |
2. a. A slender bent piece of wire, usually armed with a barb, which is attached to a fishing-line and carries the bait; a fish-hook; an angle.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xvii. 27 Gae to sæ and sende ongul vel hoc. c 1000 in Cockayne Narrat. Angl. Conscr. 40 Ic eom..swa swa fisc on hoce. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 123 Alswa deð mahȝe fisce þe..ne isihȝ na þene hoc þe sticað on þan ese. c 1300 Havelok 752 Mani god fish ther inne he tok, Bothe with neth, and with hok. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 59 As the fysshe that takithe his bayte upon an hoke. 1573–80 Baret Alv. H 610 The fish runneth to the hooke hidden with the baite. 1617 Moryson Itin. iii. 37 No man will fish with a golden hooke for a halfe penny fish. 1657 R. Ligon Barbadoes (1673) 5 The Engine we took this great Shark with, was a large Hook, baited with a piece of Beef. 1728–46 Thomson Spring 412 Then fix, with gentle twitch, the barbed hook. 1840 F. D. Bennett Whaling Voy. I. 10 Birds we captured by hook and line, baited with fat meat. 1867 F. Francis Angling xiii. (1880) 463 The angler might see fish rising but be unable to bring them to hook. |
b. fig. That by which any one is attracted or ensnared and caught; a snare; a catch.
on the hook: in various
fig. uses,
e.g. ensnared, in the power (of someone); in one's grasp; attached to some occupation, habit, etc.
Cf. off the hook (sense 15 f below).
| 1430–40 Lydg. Bochas vi. i. (1554) 146 b, Marius layd out hoke and lyne As I haue told, Metellus to confound. a 1541 Wyatt Poems, Renouncing of loue, Farewell, Loue..Thy bayted hokes shall tangle me no more. a 1635 Naunton Fragm. Reg. (Arb.) 36, I am to seek wherefore he suffered Parry to play so long on the hook, before he hoysed him up. 1730 Bolingbroke Hist. Eng. xxiii. (R.), This Solomon catched at the bait which was thrown out to him, and hung fast on the hook for seven years together. 1893 Farmer Slang, Hook,..3..A catch; an advantage; an imposture. 1895 Daily News 2 Jan. 5/1 We often..have a perfectly visible hook offered to us, in a young lady, a speculation..or what not. 1927 H. Crane Let. 12 Aug. (1965) 304, I do hope that I can count on your assistance to the extent of the monthly amount until I can get something on my hook. 1932 L. C. Douglas Forgive our Trespasses xii. 233 Presently Angela was again on the hook in twenty score of composing-rooms. 1958 ‘J. Brogan’ Cummings Rep. xii. 126 She had made me wretchedly conscious of my shortcomings; that is how she had me on the hook. 1963 ‘D. Rutherford’ Creeping Flesh i. 72 ‘He really is on the hook.’ ‘The hook?’ ‘This drug habit.’ 1970 G. F. Newman Sir, You Bastard ii. 60 Poor bastard might as well have been fined today as kept on the hook. |
3. A curved instrument with a cutting edge.
a. An agricultural implement with a crescent-shaped blade and sharp inner edge for lopping or cutting, as a
weed-hook;
esp. a reaping-hook.
A hook used to be distinguished from a sickle by having the edge finely serrated.
| a 700 Epinal Gloss. 887 Sarculum, uueadhoc. a 1310 in Wright Lyric P. 41 He sende hem thider [to the vineyard] fol son, to helpen hem with hoc. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints, Ninian 94 Gyf he in sic corne cuth set huke. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. ix. xv. (1495) 356 Iulius is paynted with an hoke repynge corne. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 242/1 Hooke to hewe wode,..sirculus. 1513 Douglas æneis vii. iv. 67 The crukit huik vndir his weid held he. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §29 Pees and benes be..reped or mowen of diuers maners, some with sickles, some with hokes, and some with staffe hokes. 1643 Sc. Acts Chas. I (1814) VI. i. 251, 2000 hwickis and 100 sythes for sheiring and mawing. 1744–50 W. Ellis Mod. Husbandm. IV. iii. 42 Here [Sandwich] they cut their drilled field-pease with what they call Hooks and Hincks. 1851 Illustr. Catal. Gt. Exhib. 610 The reaping and bagging hooks are made of cast-steel. 1889 Daily News 8 Aug. 5/1 The old saying applied to the bad harvestman, ‘A bad shearer never had a good hook’. |
† b. Naut. (
pl.)
= sheer-hooks.
Obs.| c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 641 Cleopatra, Among the ropis rennyth the scherynge hokys. Ibid. 646 He rent the seyl with hokys lyk a sithe. 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. xii. 58 Some haue vsed sheare hookes, which are hookes like sickels fixed in the ends of the yards armes, that if a ship vnder saile come to boord her, those sheares will cut her shrouds, and spoile her tackling. |
† c. An ‘inside’ tool.
Obs.| 1703 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 186 The Hook is used when the Work stands on the right or left side the Workman... And the Hook is made so as to cut on the right or left side. |
4. a. The crook or pin on which a door or gate is hung; forming the fixed part of the hinge.
| c 1325 Gloss. W. de Biblesw. in Wright Voc. 170 Gouns, hokes. Verteveles, the bondes of hokes. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. v. 603 Of almes dedes ar þe hokes þat þe gates hangen on. 1535 Coverdale 1 Kings vii. 50 The hokes of y⊇ dores on the insyde of the house..were of golde. 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 147 b, He doth not heave the doores of the hookes. 1624 in Naworth Househ. Bks. (Surtees) 215 A hooke and thimble for the parke gate. 1784 R. Bage Barham Downs I. 126 They contented themselves with throwing gates off the hooks. |
b. A hook upon which (in early models) the telephone receiver rested. (The expression is still used when the reference is to the cradle upon which a telephone rests.)
| 1885 List of Subscribers (United Telephone Co.) p. iii, When your bell rings..take the Telephone off the hook... Unless the telephone is on the hook, the Subscriber cannot call or be called by the Exchange. 1921 Conquest Jan. 126/3 On removing the receiver from the hook, the subscriber's line is connected to a selector. 1955 W. Gaddis Recognitions ii. v. 508 Otto hung the receiver back on its hook. 1970 G. F. Newman Sir, You Bastard 262 Another phone crossed Sneed's mind, the one in his own flat with its receiver off the hook. |
5. A bent metal appliance for fastening together two parts of a dress, on one of which it is fixed so as to catch in a loop or an ‘eye’ on the other. See also
hook and eye.
| 1525 Jests Widow Edyth xii. (1573) G iv b, This wydow borowed..A Cap: an Hat, and three kerchieues therto, A cople of syluer pinnes, a payr of Hokes and no mo. 1530 Palsgr. 231/2 Hoke for a womans gowne, agraffe. a 1659 Cleveland Poems, Poor Cavalier 36 Thy Hooks and Buttons sprung with Sherburns Mine. 1895 Advt., The only hook made to keep the dress in its place. 1896 Edith Thompson in Monthly Packet Christm. No. 91 She..wrenched open the fastenings of her black dress, breaking two hooks and a loop. |
† 6. A shepherd's crook.
Obs.| 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §40 Lette the shepeherde take that shepe with his hoke. 1635–56 Cowley Davideis iii. Wks. (1684) 89 Some drive the crowding Sheep with rural hooks. 1636 Massinger Bashf. Lover iii. i, My scrip, my tar-box, hook, and coat, will prove But a thin purchase. 1697 Dryden Virg. Past. iii. 150 From Rivers drive the Kids, and sling your Hook. |
† 7. The barb of an arrow; the fluke of an anchor.
Obs.| c 1470 Henry Wallace iv. 553 Ane angell hede to the hukis he drew, And at a schoyt the formast sone he sleu. a 1605 Montgomerie Misc. Poems xxviii. 57 Eviry shaft thairof must needs To haif als mony heeds, And euirie head als mony huikis. 1627 May Lucan ii. 753 The anchors made No noise, when from thicke sands their hookes are weigh'd. |
8. Shipbuilding. A bent piece of timber used to strengthen an angular framework.
Cf. breast-hooks,
fore-hooks, and futtocks.
| 1611 Cotgr., Four,..a great peece of timber in the prowe of a Ship, called the Hooke. 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. ii. 3 Your rising timbers are the hookes, or ground timbers and foot-hookes placed on the keele. 1678 Phillips (ed. 4), Hooks of a Ship, those forked Timbers which are placed upright on the Keel, both in the rake and run of the Ship. 1820 Scoresby Acc. Arctic Reg. II. 191 The fore part of the ice-beams, which butt against the hook,..diverge. c 1850 Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 124 Hook of the Decks. See Breast-hooks. |
9. A sharp bend or angle in the course or length of anything;
esp. a bend in a river (now in proper names). [Perh. in some cases influenced by
Du. hoek corner, nook.]
| 1563–87 Foxe A. & M. (1684) II. 338 The very straight way that hath neither hook ne crook. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. iii. ii. §15 In order to the making of such hooks and angles, which are necessary for the contexture of bodyes. 1670 Narborough Jrnl. in Acc. Sev. Late Voy. i. (1694) 67 For the Bay lies up in a little hook North-west. 1749 W. Douglass Summary I. 402 Cape Cod harbour, safe, and deep water; but from the hook or flexure..vessels with difficulty get out to sea. 1863 N.E. Hist. & Gen. Reg. XVII. 321 He was often at Hallowell Hook; so called from a peculiar bend in the river. 1877 N.W. Linc. Gloss., Hook, a bend in a river. Thus in the Trent are—Morton Hook, Amcotts Hook, etc. |
10. a. A hook-shaped symbol or character; a ‘pot-hook’ as an element of handwriting.
| 1668 Wilkins Real Char. 377 The first Rank doth contain the Characters for the six more simple Vowels..the former three being meer Rounds, the other Hooks. Ibid. 388 Abstracts may be expressed by a Hook at the left end of the Character... The Active and Passive voice may be expressed, one of them by a Hook, and the other by a Loop, at the left end of the Character. 1867 Pitman Man. Phonogr. (ed. 12) 30 Initial l or r hooks. Ibid. 33, n hook..f or v hook. Ibid. 34, -tion hook. |
† b. pl. Brackets (in printing), parentheses: formerly also called
crotchets and
crooks; also, inverted commas.
Obs.| 1680 G. Hickes Spirit of Popery Pref. 5 He hath left out all betwixt the Hooks. 1707 Hearne Collect. 10 Feb. (O.H.S.) I. 325 Words..in hooks are his own. 1732 Bentley Pref. Milton's P.L., Printing them in the Italic letter, and inclosing them between two hooks. 1788 F. Burney Diary Feb., As if he had pronounced a sentence in a parenthesis, between hooks. 1806 R. Cumberland Mem. (1807) I. 64 What is within hooks is of my own composing. |
c. Mus. One of the lines or marks at the end of the stem of a quaver ({quaver}), semiquaver ({squaver}), etc.
| 1782 Burney Hist. Mus. (ed. 2) II. iv. 303 [Called] crotchets: a name given by the French with more propriety, from the hook or curvature of the tail, to the..Quaver. 1880 W. S. Rockstro in Grove Dict. Mus. I. 476/2 The Semiquaver was..subdivided into Demisemiquavers, with three Hooks, and Half-Demisemiquavers, with four. |
d. Logic.
colloq. A name for the sign ⊃, used as the implication sign (
cf. horseshoe 2
f.). Also, more commonly, a reading of the sign: thus ‘
p ⊃
q’ is read ‘
p, hook,
q’.
In colloquial use among logicians since 1955 or earlier.
| 1967 R. Neidorf Deductive Forms 65 ‘If{ddd}then’..will be symbolized by a hook, ⊃. 1971 G. Hunter Metalogic 54 We shall call the tilde and the hook the connectives of P. |
11. A projecting corner, point, or spit of land.
[
app. a.
Du. hoek, as in
Hoek van Holland Hook of Holland;
cf. also
Fris. hôk, point or tongue of land.]
| 1600 Hakluyt Voy. III. 743 A hooke or headland. 1832 E. C. Wines Two Years in Navy i, We were kept off the hook, waiting either for wind or tide. 1855 Motley Dutch Rep. (1861) I. 21 This narrow hook of land, destined, in future ages, to be the cradle of a considerable empire. 1860 Bartlett Dict. Amer. (ed. 3), Hook..This name is given, in New York, to several angular points in the North and East Rivers; as, Corlear's Hook, Powle's Hook, Sandy Hook. 1862 Dana Man. Geol. iv. 663 The course of the outflowing currents..determines the position of the channels and sand-bars, and causes the prolongation of hooks off prominent capes. |
† 12. Applied with certain qualifications to a person:
unhappy hook, unhappy wight.
Obs.| 1526 Skelton Magnyf. 1390 All hokes unhappy to me haue resorte. 1556 Heywood Spider & F. xvii, Why hast thou..thou vnhappy hooke No conscience to be a periurde wretche? 1562 Jack Jugler (1820) 26 Loo yender cumithe that vnhappye hooke. |
13. a. Cricket. The act of hooking: see
hook v. 8 c.
| 1896 Badminton Mag. Sept. 278 Leg-hitting..has found a goodly representative in the ‘hook’, as invented by E. M. Grace. 1897 Lang in Longm. Mag. Oct. 503 Playing on the leg in all its variety of ‘glances’..varied by the ‘pull’ and ‘hook’ to the undefended area of the ground. 1904 F. C. Holland Cricket 26 Short-pitched balls are best disposed of by a hook. 1948 E. W. Swanton Denis Compton i. 14 The hook (that is the leg⁓side hit off the back foot) is another and more orthodox favourite. 1972 Observer 23 Apr. 24/8 Two regal hooks by Cowdrey were matched in the next over by two lordly cover-drives from Dexter. |
b. Boxing. A short swinging blow with the elbow bent. Also
transf.| 1898 Daily News 9 Nov. 8/5 After Smith had put a left hook on the chin the issue was not in doubt. 1910 J. Driscoll Ringcraft 94 It only needs practice to convince anyone that the straight blow will always get there before the swing or the hook. 1929 Evening News 18 Nov. 16/4 With a couple of left hooks to the head. 1945 Diamond Track (Army Board, N.Z.) 7/1 The Division carried out the outflanking movements, the celebrated ‘left hooks’ which forced the enemy out of the two great strongholds. 1961 B. Fergusson Watery Maze x. 251 Some of the Mediterranean landing-craft had already been promised to India, to help the British mount amphibious hooks down the coast of Arakan. 1971 Daily Express 17 Feb. 14/7 Salah..was pinned and punished by Clark's jabs and hooks. |
c. Golf. The act of hooking.
| 1890 W. Simpson in H. G. Hutchinson Golf vi. 204 Press ever so little when your club is turned in and yourself over-reached, and the hook is certain. |
II. Phrases.
14. by hook or (and) by crook,
† with h. or c.: by all or any means, fair or foul; by one device or another. Usually implying difficulty in attaining the thing sought, which may necessitate the use of special or extraordinary means.
As to the origin of the phrase there is no evidence; although invention has been prolific of explanatory stories, most of them at variance with chronology. The Wycliffite
quots. are of somewhat doubtful date, and may be later than that from Gower, which has
hepe (
q.v.) for ‘hook’.
| c 1380 ? Wyclif Wks. (1880) 250 Þei schulle bie hem wiþ pore mennus goodis wiþ hook or wiþ crok. c 1383 ― Sel. Wks. III. 331 Þei sillen sacramentis..and compellen men to bie alle þis wiþ hok or crok. [1390 Gower Conf. II. 223 What with hepe and what with croke They [false Witness and Perjury] make her maister ofte winne.] a 1529 Skelton Col. Cloute 1240 Nor wyll suffre this boke By hoke or by croke Prynted for to be. 1551 Robinson More's Utop. i. (Arb.) 41 By one meanes therefore or by other, either by hooke or crooke, they must needes departe awaye. 1561 Schole-ho. Wom. 847 in Hazl. E.P.P. IV. 138 So at length, by huch or by cruch, Lesse or more, euer they craue, Until thy hand be in thy pouch. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. i. ii. iii. xv. (1651) 137 Some..care not how they come by it per fas et nefas, hooke or crook, so they have it. 1651 N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. ii. xiii. (1739) 69 Title enough for a great Man that resolved to hold by hook, what he had got by crook. 1778 Foote Trip Calais ii. Wks. 1799 II. 348 If you could put us in a way, by hook or by crook, to get her out of the convent. 1833 Marryat P. Simple lii, If you can't gain it by hook, you must by crook. 1842 Geo. Eliot in Life (1885) I. 112 Do come by hook or by crook. |
15. off the hooks. (
Cf. off the hinges,
hinge n. 5.)
† a. Out of proper condition; out of order; ‘in a bad way’.
† b. Out of ordinary bounds, to excess.
† c. Out of humour or spirits, ‘put out’; ‘not quite right’.
Obs. d. Straight off, at once, summarily.
e. to drop (etc.) off the hooks, to die (
slang).
f. off the hook: out of a difficult situation.
Cf. on the hook (sense 2 b above).
| a. ? 16.. Songs Lond. Prentices (Percy Soc.) 64 In all this long season they were off o' th' hook. a 1659 Cleveland Pet. Poem 22 My Doublet looks Like him that wears it, quite off o' the Hooks. 1684 H. More Answer 240 But the application is, methinks, much off the Hooks. |
| b. 1612 North's Plutarch 1214 Agrippina began..to flye off the hookes: and coming to Nero himself, threatned to take his Empire from him. 1621 Molle Camerar. Liv. Libr. iii. vi. 167 In time of prosperitie proudly flie off the hookes. 1676 D'Urfey Mad. Fickle i. i. (1677) 7 My Brothers a little off the Hooks; but..'tis only the over-flow of Wit. |
| c. 1662 Pepys Diary 28 Apr., One thing that hath put Sir William so long off the hooks. 1665 Ibid. 26 May, The Duke of Albemarle..mightily off the hooks, that the ships are not gone out of the River. 1779 Sylph II. 98 The Baronet is cursedly off the hooks, from the idea of its transpiring. 1824 Scott St. Ronan's xxx, Everybody..is a little off the hooks..in plain words, a little crazy, or so. |
| d. 1860 Trollope Castle Richmond (Tauchn.) II. 350 (Hoppe) Baronets with twelve thousand a year cannot be married off the hooks. |
| e. 1840 H. Cockton Life Valentine Vox xii. 95 No man was ever able to write his own life complete. He's certain to go off the hooks before he has finished it. 1842 Barham Ingol. Leg., Blk. Mousquet. 11, Our friend..has popp'd off the hooks! 1862 Trollope Orley F. (Tauchn.) II. 192 (Hoppe) If he fatigues himself so much as that often, he'll soon be off the hooks. 1886 Mrs. E. Lynn Linton Paston Carew iii, He..was not far from eighty when he slipped off the hooks without an ache or pain. 1894 Blackmore Perlycross 293 Is it true that old Fox is dropping off the hooks? 1921 Galsworthy To Let i. i. 9 Old Timothy; he might go off the hooks at any moment. I suppose he's made his Will. |
| f. 1864 Trollope Small House at Allington II. xxix. 296 ‘Poor Caudle!’ he said to himself; ‘he's hooked, and he'll never get himself off the hook again.’ 1954 J. Potts Go, Lovely Rose xii. 77 ‘It's an idea,’ said Dr. Craig... It would get Hartley off the hook, sure enough. 1962 M. Urquhart Frail on North Circular xxv. 140 Let Broadbent think he's off the hook and then give it another twist. 1966 New Yorker 25 June 49 Then he smiled, and I knew I was off the hook. 1969 A. Glyn Dragon Variation vii. 199 You mean she lost the kid? Well! Well, that sure lets old Walter off the hook! |
16. a. on one's own hook: in dependence on oneself or one's own efforts; on one's own account; at one's own risk.
colloq.| 1812 Boston Gaz. 23 Nov. (Th.), They forget that Rodgers himself says that he went upon his own hook. 1836 D. Crockett Exploits & Adv. Texas (1837) 13 But now I start anew upon my own hook. 1845 N.Y. Herald Oct. (Bartlett), The time is fast approaching when we shall have our American Pope..and American Catholic every thing, on our own hook. 1849 Thackeray Pendennis lxix, Do we come out as Liberal Conservative, or as Government men, or on our own hook? 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xiv, ‘I'm a thinkin, that every man'll have to hang on his own hook, in them ar quarters.’ 1861 Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. ii, I thought to-day I would go on my own hook, and see if I couldn't make a better hand of it. 1899 J. London Let. 30 Mar. (1966) 26 When I was just sixteen I broke loose and went off on my own hook. 1927 E. W. Springs Nocturne Militaire vi. 178 You know a man has to be crazy to go after a balloon on his own hook. 1940 M. Lowry Let. Spring (1967) 21 They objected to my going east on my own hook..because they would not trust me. 1952 F. Yerby Woman called Fancy xvi. 307 I'm not going out of this house with you on my own hook. |
b. to sling or take one's hook: to go away, be off, decamp.
slang or
dial.| 1874, 1897 [see sling v.1 3 d]. 1885 O. Allan Sinbad the Sailor 22, I ‘took the office’ and I took my hook. 1886 M. Peacock Tales Lindsey Folk-Speech 106 An' soa he teks his hook back agaain to steam-hoose yard. 1890 Kipling Barrack-Room Ballads (1892) 34 Before you sling your 'ook, at the 'ousetops take a look. 1892 ‘F. Anstey’ Mr. Punch's Model Music-Hall Songs 130 Take your 'ook while you can. 1928 Daily Express 10 May 7 Magistrate: How is your husband cruel to you? Wife: He will not speak to me, and he tells me to sling my hook. 1955 L. P. Hartley Perfect Woman xxii. 193 Anyhow, she's gone, walked out, slung her hook. 1959 [see breeze n.2 3 b]. |
17. hook, line, and sinker: completely, without reservations.
| 1838 G. W. Patterson in T. W. Barnes Mem. T. Weed (1884) v. 60 We are gone, hook, line, and sinker. 1865 Weekly New Mexican 25 Aug. 1/3 Without him Chavez [sc. a candidate for Congress] is gone hook, line, and sinker. 1924 Wodehouse Bill the Conqueror ii. 59 The old man swallowed those references of yours, hook, line and sinker. 1936 N. Coward To-night at 8.30 II. 58, I fell for it hook, line and sinker. 1945 E. Waugh Brideshead Revisited i. ii. 38 You, my dear Charles,..have gone straight, hook, line and sinker, into the very worst set in the University. |
III. Attributive uses and combinations.
18. a. attrib. (or adj.) Shaped like or resembling a hook, hook-like, hooked, as
hook-head,
hook-shoulder,
hook-tool;
hook-bill, -nose; furnished with a hook, as
hook block,
hook bolt,
hook ladder,
hook rope,
hook tackle; parasynthetic,
hook-backed,
hook-beaked,
hook-handed,
† hook-nebbed,
hook-shouldered adjs.; also
hook-nosed.
| 1847–78 Halliwell, *Hook-backed, hump-backed, crooked. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., *Hook-block, a pulley-block strapped with a hook, in contradistinction to one with an eye or a tail. |
| 1899 N.E.D., *Hook-bolt. 1923 Man. Seamanship (H.M.S.O.) II. 300 It will be necessary [during salvage operations] to drill a few extra holes for hook bolts which will be used to secure the patch temporarily to the ship's side... The hook bolts are shipped in the holes ready for use. 1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 421/2 Hook bolt, a galvanised-iron bolt formed out of rod which is bent at one end into a hook serving as the head, and threaded at the other to take a nut; used for fixing corrugated sheeting. 1956 Archit. Rev. CXIX. 213/1 For fixing to metal purlins, a standard range of hook-bolts and U-bolts is available. |
| a 1637 B. Jonson Underwoods, Epigr. to Counsellor, *Hook-handed harpies. |
| 1756 Rolt Dict. Trade, Hook-pins, in architecture, are taper iron pins, only with a *hook-head, to pin the frame of a roof or floor together. |
| 1519 Churchw. Acc. St. Giles, Reading 5 For sises pynnes and *hoke naylles. |
| ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 1082 *Huke⁓nebbyde as a hawke. |
| 1495–7 Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 271 *Hoke ropes for fyssyng of ankers. 1801 Nelson 15 Aug. in Nicolas Disp. (1845) IV. 460 To be furnished with stout hook-ropes, to be the more ready to take them in tow. |
| a 1678 Marvell Poems, On hill at Billborow, Ye mountains Which do with your *hook-shouldered height The earth deform, and heaven fright. |
b. objective and
obj. gen., as
hook-bearer,
hook-bender;
c. similative, etc., as
hook-crooked,
hook-like,
hook-shaped,
hook-winged adjs.;
d. instrumental and locative, as
hook-armed adj.,
hook-fishing,
hook-swinging.
| 1627 May Lucan i. 456 The Belgæ *hooke-arm'd Chariots expert-guiders. |
| 1883 Fisheries Exhib. Catal. 363 Various Tools for manufacturing Fishing Tackle and Gear, such as *Hook-benders [etc.]. |
| c 1611 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iv. iv. Decay 883 With *hook-crookt hands upon the smoothest crawling. |
| 1745 Ellis Mod. Husb. VI. ii. 67 Those poor People..may have the single Engines for *Hook-fishing fixed within their Houses. 1841 J. Johnson tr. Van der Donck's New-Netherlands in N.Y. Hist. Soc. Coll. 2nd Ser. I. 177 Those the people call weak crabs, and they make excellent bait for hook fishing. 1851 Illustr. Catal. Gt. Exhib. iv. 926/1 Hook-fishing is within 3 fathoms, either in the river or in open sea. |
| 1616–61 B. Holyday Persius 323 A *hook-like bearded dart. 1874 Boutell Arms & Arm. vi. 91 Projecting hook-like barbs. |
| 1834 Medwin Angler in Wales I. 317 *Hook-shaped prickles. |
| 1891 Pall Mall G. 18 Nov. 2/2 The horrible ceremony of ‘*hook-swinging’,..the swinging aloft at the end of a long pole, for over an hour, of a man by means of two iron hooks embedded in the muscles of his back. 1894 Daily News 15 Nov. 5/3 The Government of Madras has passed orders giving Magistrates power to prevent..hook-swinging in the Southern Presidency. |
| 1905 Spectator 7 Jan. 12/1 Every autumn the great coffee-coloured, *hook-winged skua-gulls come down from the North and patrol the midway air. 1939 L. MacNeice Autumn Jrnl. vi. 27 A vulture hung in air..His hook-winged shadow wavered. 1968 T. Kinsella Nightwalker 17 Hook-winged geese or hawks. |
19. Special combs.:
hook and butt,
hook-butt, ‘a mode of scarfing timber so that the parts resist tensile strain to part them’ (Knight);
hook-and-ladder U.S., apparatus consisting of ladders and hooks used by firemen; often
attrib.;
hook-book, a book with flannel or parchment leaves in which anglers keep their hooks;
hook-climber, a plant that climbs by means of its own hooklets, as members of the genera
Galium and
Rubus;
hook gauge, an instrument for accurately determining the surface level of water and consisting of a hook and pointer attached to a fixed vernier, the hook being brought up until its tip just pierces the surface of the water;
hook-heal, a name for Self-heal,
Prunella vulgaris;
hook-hit = 13 b above;
hook-ladder, a ladder with hooks at one end by which it can be suspended;
† hook-land, land ploughed and sown every year;
† hookman, a manufacturer of fish-hooks;
hook-money, a currency formerly in vogue in Ceylon, consisting of pieces of silver twisted into the form of fish-hooks;
hook-penny (
Sc.), a penny received by reapers every week in addition to the ordinary wages;
hook-pin, a taper iron pin with a hooked head to pin the frame of a roof or floor together; a draw-pin;
hook-pot (see
quot. a 1865);
hook rug = hooked rug;
hook-scarf,
hook-scarf-joint = hook-butt;
hook-seam (see
quot.);
hook shop slang, a brothel;
hook-shot Basketball, a twisting shot started when the player has his back to the basket and completed as he pivots round towards the basket;
hook-squid, a decapodous cephalopod of the family
Onychoteuthididæ, having long tentacles armed with hooks, the bases of which are furnished with suckers;
hook stroke Cricket, a stroke made by hitting a short-pitched ball, after it has risen, round to leg with a horizontal swing of the bat;
hook-sucker, a fish that takes a hook or bait with a sucking motion (
Cent. Dict.);
hook-swivel, the swivel of a gorge-hook;
hook tender N. Amer. (see
quot. 1905);
hook-tip, a moth of the genus
Platypteryx, having the tips of the wings hook-shaped;
hook-ward, a ward of a lock having the shape of the letter L;
† hook-ware, tools used in reaping;
hook-weed, same as
hook-heal;
hookwise adv., after the fashion, or in the manner of a hook;
hook-wrench, a spanner with a bent end adapted to grasp and turn a nut or coupling piece.
| 1821 Minutes Boston (Mass.) Selectmen XXXIX. 187 Mr. George G. Channing..declines taking command of the Fire *Hook & Ladder company. 1865 Chambers's Jrnl. 29 July 469/2, 18 hook-and-ladder trucks. 1902 Westm. Gaz. 11 June 8/1 Other Americans pointed with pride to their hook-and-ladder system, which forms such an important aid to the New York fireman. 1909 Strand Mag. Apr. 363 There stood the engines and the ‘hook-and-ladder’. 1949 Los Angeles Times 18 May 8/1 The Fire Department obligingly backed up a hook-and-ladder truck. |
| 1859 Sala Gas-light & D. x. 118 The parchment *hook-books of the gentlemen fishermen. |
| 1897 Willis Flower. Pl. I. 177 In the tropics many *hook-climbers grow to a great size and have stem- or leaf-structures modified into hooks. |
| 1875 Jrnl. Franklin Inst. XCIX. 250 The depth on the weir was observed by means of a *hook-gauge. 1880 Encycl. Brit. XII. 477/2 The hook gauge used first by Mr. U. Boyden of Boston, in 1840. 1934 H. Addison Text Bk. Appl. Hydraulics xv. 304 Hook and point gauges. These are the simplest and most reliable gauges for measuring ranges of head not exceeding about 3 ft. (60 cms.) with a probable error of 1/1500 ft. (0·2 mm.). |
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens i. xx. 133 The second kinde is also called..in English Prunell..*Hooke heale. 1727 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Cut, Take some Prunel or Hook-heal. |
| 1890 R. G. A. Allanson-Winn Boxing (ed. 2) ix. 43 There is another half-arm hit, called the ‘*hook-hit’, in which the elbow is not so much bent as it is with the real ‘contracted-arm’. 1919 G. B. Shaw in Manch. Guardian 1 Nov. 7/6 He missed that chance of a hook hit at the white chokers. |
| 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Hook-ladder. 1905 Westm. Gaz. 17 Oct. 7/1 The escape was rushed up, ladders extended, hook-ladders placed into position. 1972 Times 20 Sept. 3/3 Window cleaners..made their final assault on the upper storeys by jumping out of windows..by lowering a hook ladder from the summit. |
| 1669 Worlidge Syst. Agric. (1681) 56 That Land which is so often tilled, which they call *Hook-land. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Hook-land, or Ope-land. |
| 1658 Rowland Moufet's Theat. Ins. 946 We have some bold bragging *hookmen..that ascribe it to their own invention. |
| 1801 C. Keith Har'st Rig cxxi. note, *Hook-penny, which each shearer is in use to ask and receive weekly over and above their pay. |
| 1637–8 in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) I. 94 Ashpoles for levers and *hookepinnes. 1703 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 123 The Hook-Pin is..to pin the Frame of a Floor, or Frame of a Roof together, whilst it is framing. |
| a 1865 Smyth Sailor's Word-Bk. (1867) 388 *Hook-pots, tin cans fitted to hang on the bars of the galley range. 1886 R. Brown Spunyarn & Spindrift v. 66 A hook-pot of tea a-piece. 1896 Idler Mar. 173/1 There you'd see them crowding about the doors at meal-times, flourishing their hook-pots. 1913 J. Masefield Daffodil Fields 33 Tin dishes, sailors' hookpots. |
| 1951 T. Capote Grass Harp (1952) i. 12 There was a *hook rug on the floor. 1967 E. Short Embroidery & Fabric Collage iii. 83 The canvas [is] the one normally used for hook rugs, i.e. three holes to the inch. |
| 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. §268 To be united to each other by *Hook-Scarf-Joints, so as to compose, in effect, one stone. |
| 1828 Craven Dial., *Hook-seams, hooks or paniers to carry turf, lead, etc.; now nearly extinct, since the improvement of roads. |
| 1889 Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang I. 473/1 *Hook shop, a brothel. 1935 A. J. Pollock Underworld Speaks 57/2 Hook shop, a house of ill fame. 1954 J. Steinbeck Sweet Thursday vi. 49 This kid could be pure murder in a hook-shop. |
| 1957 Encycl. Brit. III. 181B/1 Farther out..players use a one-hand shot from a stride, jump or standing position, and a *hook shot which is overhead. 1969 Z. Hollander Mod. Encycl. Basketball 43 Washington, led by hook-shot artist Jack Nichols, defeated Oregon State. 1969 New Yorker 14 June 79/1 You go through Harlem and you'll see kids less than five feet tall with pretty good jump shots and hook shots. |
| 1897 K. S. Ranjitsinhji Jubilee Bk. Cricket 175 Batsmen of the old school very much disliked the *hook-stroke on principle. 1908 Daily Chron. 15 May 8/2 He began exploiting the full drive and the hook stroke. 1911 C. B. Fry in P. F. Warner Bk. Cricket 226 Ranjitsinhji found almost as little difficulty in making his famous ‘hook strokes’. 1945 N. Cardus Eng. Cricket 38 Maclaren was the grand manner personified; with his hook-stroke he dismissed the fastest ball from his presence. |
| 1893 Atlantic Monthly Feb. 196/1 Each man, being hired for a definite purpose, as chopper, *hook-tender, barker, [etc.]..keeps closely to his own job. 1901 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 3 Nov. 5/2 Seventy-five cents was taken off hook-tenders and other men not necessarily expert. 1905 Terms Forestry (U.S. Dept. Agric.) 40 Hook tender, the foreman of a yarding crew; specifically, one who directs the attaching of the cable to a turn of logs. 1966 Sun (Vancouver) 12 Jan. 25/5 Moore said the industry needs more managers, logging operators, hook-tenders..‘and even chokermen’. |
| 1819 G. Samouelle Entomol. Compend. 254 *Hooktip moths. 1869 E. Newman Brit. Moths 205 The boundary line between the two colours is straight in the Hook-tips. Ibid. 206 The Scalloped Hook-tip. |
| 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 301/2 *Hookward, any cross Ward that cometh out from it [the Key]. |
| 1541 Aberdeen Reg. V. 17 (Jam.) Tar, pik, hemp, irn, & *huik-wair. |
| 1861 Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. IV. 205 Carpenter's-Herb, Sickle-wort, and *Hookweed. |
| 1597 A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 16 b/2 A Spatula, may be vsede in place of a privet..and the same being *hoockwise, is called Agrimeles. |
▸ A memorable or catchy passage in a piece of popular music.
| 1975 Oakland (Calif.) Tribune 16 Feb. 21/3 e, During the hour they were on stage, the foursome..gave the near-capacity crowd..heavy party music with an occasional catchy hook. 1982 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 14 July c22/4 The bitter medicine of Miss Davis's songs is sweetened by catchy pop hooks and a melodramatic delivery. 1992 DJ 26 Nov. 43/2 Strong, funky vocals with a hook that gets into your head and just won't go away. 2001 Muzik Jan. 107/4 A delightful Dutch creation powered by a phat bass and phunky beats, with a hook reminiscent of ‘Kemkraft 400’ to ensure dancefloor devastation. |
▪ II. hook, n.2 local.
[Variant of huck n.1] The projecting upper part of the thigh bones of cattle near the hip-joint. Also
hook-bone.
Cf. huck n.1 and
huckle-bone.
| 1808 T. H. Horne Compl. Grazier (ed. 3) 9 The roof [of a bull ought to be] wide, particularly over the chine and hips, or hooks. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 161 Between the shoulders and the hook. Ibid. III. 1253 The broad hook-bones, with the narrow chest, are not entirely occasioned in cows by calf-breeding. 1858 C. L. Flint Milch Cows 17 The Ayrshire farmers prefer their dairy bulls..broad at the hook-bones and hips, and full in the flanks. 1900 Westmorland Gaz. 3 Feb., Advt. (E.D.D.), Strayed, two Herdwick ewes; marked red pop near shoulder and near hook. 1935 Amer. Speech X. 271/1 Hooks, hip bones of a cow. 1960 Farmer & Stockbreeder 8 Mar. 95/2 As is good breadth between the hookbones. |
▪ III. hook, v. (
hʊk)
[f. hook n.1] 1. trans. To make hook-like or hooked; to bend, crook, incurve.
rare.
| a 1250 Owl & Night. 377 Ȝif hundes urneþ to him ward He..hokeþ paþes swiþe narewe. 1483 Cath. Angl. 191/2 To Huke, hamare. 1570 Levins Manip. 159/32 To Hooke, incuruare. 1598 Florio, Vncinare, to hooke, to crooke. |
2. intr. To bend or curve sharply; to have a hooked shape.
| c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. iv. 202 It is so ferd of oiles, that therfro Hit hoketh, yf me sette it nygh thervnder. 1601 Holland Pliny xix. v, Melons cannot abide oile..let oile stand the like distance from them, shrink they wil from it, and hook upward. 1665 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1677) 383 Her bill hooks and bends downwards. 1704, 1774 [see hooking ppl. a. 2]. |
3. intr. To move with a sudden turn or twist. Now
slang or
dial. To make off. Also
to hook it and (
N.Z.)
to hook off.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 4621 All the company enclinet, cairyn to ship..Hokit out of hauyn, all the hepe somyn. 1824 W. Irving T. Trav. II. 243 He..was always hooking about on mysterious voyages. 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour (1861) II. 137 (Farmer) He slipped from her and hooked it. 1862 H. Kingsley Ravenshoe III. xi. 184 When the experienced hunter sees him doing that, he, so to speak, ‘hooks it’. 1886 Baring-Gould Crt. Royal I. iii. 37 Hook up the steps, if you please. 1886 ― Gold. Feath. viii. 20 Anything does to burn..human creatures as well, if they don't hook out of the windows. 1938 F. S. Anthony in D. M. Davin N.Z. Short Stories (1953) 219, I hooked off on my own and rambled aimlessly about. 1940 F. Sargeson Man & Wife (1944) 75 If Ted saw her coming up the road he'd hook off if he could before she got near. And if he couldn't I'd hook off while they had their barney. |
4. a. trans. To lay hold of or grasp with a hook; to make fast, attach, or secure with a hook or hooks, or in the manner of a hook; to connect or fasten together with hooks, or hooks and eyes.
| 1611 Cotgr., Haver,..to hooke, or grapple with a hooke. c 1626 Dick of Devon iv. i. in Bullen O. Pl. II. 63 Now the word is ‘Come, hooke me’..the needle lance knights..put so many hookes and eyes to every hose and dubblet. 1634 Heywood Maydenh. Well Lost i. Wks. 1874 IV. 112 At last we came to hooke our ladders, and By them to skale. 1682 N. O. Boileau's Lutrin iv. 222 A third..Had not due time to hook his dropping Breeches! 1710 J. Clarke Rohault's Nat. Phil. (1729) I. xxii. 135 Their Particles are so hooked together, that they may be bent any way. 1820 Scoresby Acc. Arctic Reg. II. 287 When the harpoon..slipped out..it luckily hooked the lines belonging to another boat. 1895 The Season Mar. 84 Stuff put plain or pleated over lining hooked down the middle in front. Ibid. 95 Cape hooked over at the side. |
b. to hook on,
hook in,
hook up, to attach by means of a hook,
e.g. a horse to a vehicle, etc.
| 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 428 There are many other ways by which the hooking up of the yarns may be effected. 1835 Marryat Jac. Faithf. xxxvii, Maintop, there, hook on your stays. 1844 Mrs. Houston Yacht Voy. Texas I. 5 After being hooked on to a steamer, we were tugged rapidly down the river. 1875 W. S. Hayward Love agst. World 16 They saw a horse hooked up to the post of the inn. 1883 Chicago Advance 23 Aug., The livery man hooked up for us as fine a team. 1897 Cavalry Tactics xvi. 112 The breast-harness horses in the cavalry ranks should be hooked in. |
c. To make (rugs) with a hook: see
hooked a. 4.
U.S.| 1882 Harper's Mag. Dec. 126/1 Cynthy Ann..hooked rugs from early in the morning until late into the night. 1945 B. MacDonald Egg & I 66 A time to repair machinery, hook rugs, patch quilts, mend harness and perform other leisurely tasks. |
d. intr. To use a crochet needle.
| 1854 C. M. Yonge Castle Builders vi. 81 Miss Townsend..hooked away with her crochet needle. |
e. to hook up: to establish a link
with, to make a connection
with. Also
const. to, and with direct object.
Cf. hook-up.
| 1925 H. Crane Let. 27 Oct. (1965) 218 They want to hook the book up with an illustrious name. 1929 Wodehouse Mr. Mulliner Speaking v. 172 What I would propose is that we take a short cut through the fields to the station, hook up with the five-fifty express at Goresby, [etc.]. 1943 E. C. Wicks et al. Shopwork vi. 113 Whenever electricity is needed for any purpose, the particular job must be wired or ‘hooked-up’ to feed the electrical current to the necessary place. 1953 P. C. Berg Dict. New Words 94/1 Hook-up, v.t., to connect two or more broadcasting systems for the time needed to broadcast a common item on their otherwise different programmes. 1971 Ink 12 June 12/1 David Mercer's moving and intelligent portrait of a Marxist drama critic who can't hook up his ideology with his unresolved feelings towards his impossible working-class father. 1971 M. Tak Truck Talk 84 Hook up, to couple a tractor to a trailer. 1972 Edmonton (Alberta) Jrnl. 31 Aug. 3/4 RCMP and city police forces in Alberta have begun hooking up to a national computer system. |
5. a. intr. (for
refl.) To attach oneself or be attached with or as with a hook; to be coupled.
hook on (
fig.): to join on; to be consequent or continuous.
| 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, ii. i. 175 Go with her, with her: hooke-on, hooke-on. 1774 C. J. Phipps Voy. N. Pole 181 Two small steel rods..hook into the ends of this board. 1777 Sheridan Trip Scarb. i. ii, If it had been tighter, 'twould neither have hooked nor buttoned. 1847 Thackeray Brighton in 1847 i, He hooked on to my arm as if he had been the Old Man of the Sea. 1885 T. A. Guthrie Tinted Venus viii. 93 Haven't you missed out a lot, sir?..because it don't seem to me to hook on quite. |
b. Usu. in
pa. pple. hooked (on): addicted (to), captivated (by).
slang.| 1925 Writer's Monthly June 486/2 Hooked, to become a drug addict. 1931 D. Runyon Guys & Dolls (1932) vi. 115 Waldo Winchester is hooked. 1953 W. Burroughs Junkie (1972) 11, I drifted along taking shots when I could score. I ended up hooked. Ibid. vi. 61 When you are hooked, the effects are not dramatic. 1964 Daily Tel. 25 Nov. 22/6 The chances are that he is hooked on opium, morphine or heroin. 1965 New Statesman 16 Apr. 620/3 Other cities have admirers, even lovers, but Liverpool has only addicts: either you are hooked the very first time you step out of Lime Street Station to be confronted by the bulk of St George's Hall, or you never get the message. 1966 E. McGirr Funeral was in Spain 137 She was half⁓way to being hooked: one of the punks she was with was a pusher. 1967 M. M. Glatt et al. Drug Scene ii. 21 Once you're registered, you're hooked. It's too depressing when you're hooked, besides a girl looks terrible on heroin. 1967 New Scientist 25 May 478 Hopes that the millions of men and women ‘hooked’ on tobacco may soon be able to satisfy their craving with a ‘safe’ cigarette are not supported by the facts. 1970 Daily Tel. 8 May 3/2 Hundreds of domestic pets die each year after becoming ‘hooked’ on slug bait. |
6. trans. To snatch with a hook; to seize by stealth; to steal, pilfer.
Cf. hooker1 1.
| 1615 T. Tomkis Albumazar iii. iii. in Hazl. Dodsley XI. 359 Picking of locks, or hooking clothes at windows. 1627–77 Feltham Resolves i. x. 14 Like Thieues, that hooking for clothes in the dark, draw the Owner which takes..them. 1631 Weever Anc. Fun. Mon. 47 To hooke or draw any thing from thence, is a sinne. 1785 Burns Jolly Beggars Recitat. iv, Monie a pursie she had hooked. 1857 N.Y. Tribune (Bartlett), A maid hooked one of her mistress's dresses the other day. 1884 Mark Twain Huckleb. Finn xxx. 312 (Farmer) To hook the money and hide it. |
7. a. To catch (a fish) with a hook: applied both to the external use of a large hook, and to that of the baited hook which is swallowed.
| [1700 Wallis in Collect. (O.H.S.) I. 326 This bait..is to hook-in somewhat else.] 1771 E. Griffith tr. Viaud's Shipwreck 178 A few small flounders, which are hooked up out of the water, with a sort of harpoon. 1772–84 Cook Voy. (1790) V. 1831 This day we hooked plenty of fine cod. 1885 W. C. Smith Kildrostan i. i. 227 It is not every fish you hook that comes to the creel. |
b. fig. To catch, secure,
e.g. as a husband, etc.
| a 1800 T. Bellamy Beggar Boy (1801) II. 97 He was anticipating..the young spendthrifts whom he hoped to hook at the gaming-table. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair iv, The first woman who fishes for him, hooks him. 1893 F. J. Furnivall Child-Marriages Pref. 49 A man trying to hook a well-off widow. |
c. To solicit as a prostitute.
Cf. hooker1 4.
slang.| 1959 ‘E. McBain’ Killer's Wedge (1961) vi. 57 She's been in the city for almost a year, Pete. Hooking mostly. 1965 ― Doll (1966) v. 66 The girl was a prostitute... The girl had been hooking in the neighborhood for little more than a week. 1969 Disch & Sladek Black Alice v. 53 Bessie's girls didn't have to go out hooking in hotel lobbies or honkytonks, no indeedy. 1971 W. Hanley Blue Dreams xix. 313 A high-class hooker couldn't be entirely without redeeming social value. Especially one who..taught English and hooked on the side. |
8. transf. and
fig. a. To catch hold of and draw as with a hook; to drag.
b. To attach as with a hook.
| 1577 Stanyhurst Descr. Irel. i. (R.), Neighbourhood bred acquaintance, acquaintance waffed in the Irish toong, the Irish hooked with it attire. 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. ii. iii. 7 The harlot-King Is quite beyond mine Arme..but shee, I can hooke to me. a 1661 Fuller Worthies (1840) I. 560 A Dictionary, or Vocabulary, hooking all words..within the compass thereof. a 1677 Barrow Pope's Suprem. (R.), There is nothing which each of these powers will not hook within the verge of its cognizance and jurisdiction. 1764 Wesley Wks. (1872) III. 199 He hooked me, unawares, into a little dispute. 1842 Tennyson Day-dream, Moral ii, If I Should hook it to some useful end. |
c. In
Golf, To drive (the ball) widely to the left hand. In
Cricket, To play (the ball) round from the ‘off’ to the ‘on’ side without hitting it at the pitch.
= draw v. 14;
cf. hook stroke (
hook n.1 19). Also
absol.| 1857 Chambers's Inform. II. 695 (Golf) When standing too far, the ball is apt to be ‘drawn’ or ‘hooked’—that is to say, struck with the point or ‘toe’ of the club, in which case the ball flies in to the left. 1896 Badminton Mag. Oct. 482 Gregory, in attempting to hook Peel, put the ball straight into Richardson's hands. 1897 A. Lang in Longman's Mag. Oct. 503, I remember Mr. Fry returning a simple ball as a yet simpler catch to bowler in his first over, all because he tried to hook it. 1898 C. B. Fry in Windsor Mag. June 26/1 His cutting and hooking are second only to Ranji's. 1898 K. S. Ranjitsinhji With Stoddart's Team (ed. 3) iii. 50 He [sc. C. Hill] seemed able to ‘drive’, or ‘hook’, or ‘glance’..with equal skill and success. 1904 [see cover n.1 1 d]. 1955 [see boundary 2 b]. 1955 Times 9 May 15/2 Then, when he must have been looking ahead to a century, he was leg-before-wicket hooking at Heine. 1972 ‘J. Ross’ Here lies Nancy Frail xii. 145 I'm bloody useless with a two wood... I hook like hell with it. |
d. Boxing. To strike (one's opponent) a swinging blow with the elbow bent (
cf. hook n.1 13 b). Also
absol.| 1898 Daily News 24 Nov. 8/3 Corbett hooked with his right hard on Sharkey's jaw. 1910 J. Driscoll Ringcraft 86 Wild attempts to hook him on his well protected jaw. 1973 Times 14 Feb. 9/3 Bugner..clubs rather than hooks. |
e. Rugby Football. To secure (the ball) with the foot, as hooker, when it is placed in the scrummage. Also
intr.| 1906 Gallaher & Stead Compl. Rugby Footballer vii. 110 In Britain it is the custom to hook the ball in the scrum with the outside feet crossing over those on the inside. 1913 Daily Graphic 24 Mar. 15/1 D. A. Greer..may be of use to Ireland henceforward, especially as ‘hooking’ is his forte. 1927 Wakefield & Marshall Rugger 183 The front row tried trick hooking and foot-up tactics. 1955 Times 1 Aug. 2/3 Kroon's brilliant hooking has been a feature of the season's provincial matches. |
9. hook in: to draw in with or as with a hook;
fig. to get hold of as best one may; to secure by hook or by crook; to bring or drag (a person) in unwillingly or against his judgement.
| 1551 Robinson tr. More's Utop. i. (Arb.) 56 An other..aduiseth to hooke in the kynge of Castell. 1617 Moryson Itin. i. 62 Mils..having an iron wheele, which doeth not onely drive the saw, but hooketh in, and turneth the boords to the saw. 1658 W. Gurnall Chr. in Arm. verse 14. iii. xiii. (1669) 107/2 Servants standing at the door to hook in customers. 1683 Kennett tr. Erasm. on Folly 114 Hooking in a larger revenue to their own Exchequer. 1772 Burke Corr. (1844) I. 396 If they can hook in any job or patronage they will. 1836 J. Halley in Arnot Life (1842) 77, I have been hooked in for an essay. |
10. To link by a hook or bent part.
| 1823 J. Badcock Dom. Amusem. 116 Holding the other extremity in your hand, or hooked over the arm. 1847 Tennyson Princ. iv. 249 At last I hook'd my ankle in a vine. 1861 Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. xv, He hooked his arm into Tom's and led the way into the town. |
11. To catch on the horns, attack with the horns, as a cow. Also
absol. U.S.| 1837–40 Haliburton Clockm. (1862) 225 As a hookin' cow does [carry] a board over her eyes to keep her from makin' right at you. 1865 Whittier Snowbound 86 The oxen lashed their tails and hooked. |
12. To furnish with a hook (see
hook n.1 10 a).
| 1867 Pitman Man. Phonogr. (ed. 12) 30 The downward r and s do not require to be hooked for rr, sr. |
13. to hook Jack: to play truant.
U.S. colloq. (
Cf. hookey 1.)
| 1877 Bartlett Dict. Amer. (ed. 4) 294 Hook Jack, to play truant. New England. 1890 Dialect Notes I. 22 Hookey, in ‘to play hookey’, meaning to play truant, used in Maine, but not usual in Boston, where the phrase was and is to ‘hook Jack’. 1892 Ibid. 216 In all the period from 1840 to 1850 the current phrase among the boys was to hook Jack. 1905 J. C. Lincoln Partners of Tide iv. 70 The boy ‘hooked Jack’ for a whole day. 1967 Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. xlvii. 7 Hook jack, ‘play hookey’. |
▸
to hook up v.
orig. and chiefly
U.S. Cf. sense 4e.
1. intr. To get married or become involved in a romantic relationship; to engage in sexual activity. Usu. with
with.
| 1903 G. Ade People you Know 69 Then he hooked up with Laura so as to get a real Home. 1950 Gaz. & Bull. (Williamsport, Pa.) (Electronic text) 9 June If I weren't married to Miss Mary and didn't love Miss Mary, I would try to hook up with either of them. 1989 S. Forward Toxic Parents ii. xiii. 254, I keep hooking up with these cold, unresponsive guys. 1992 Los Angeles Times (Electronic ed.) 30 July 1 I'll look at a guy and wonder what he does... I might make conversation, but the goal isn't to hook up with him. 2005 R. Rossi Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst.: Off the Rec. 73 Some [guys] are jerks and just want to hook up, yet some are genuinely sweet and would make the best boyfriend or best friend. |
2. intr. To meet; to join forces. Usu. with
with.
| 1906 S. Ford Shorty McCabe i. 11 So I hooks up with Leonidas. 1915 Atlanta Constit. (Electronic text) 29 Aug. Tom has a proposition that may interest you, Peters, and if not you will know somebody for him to hook up with. 1977 Washington Post (Nexis) 21 June a18 He was forced to hook up with the right-wing religious parties to assemble a parliamentary majority. 1994 Rolling Stone 30 June 29/2 It will be great to hook up and tell stories and exchange dance moves. 2003 R. Candappa Universally Challenged 8 The key point here is to over-exaggerate just how great a time you're having, how stonking the nightlife is, and how you've hooked up with a gang of new mates who it feels like you've known all your life. |
3. trans. To join or bring (a person) together
with another person or people; to join or bring (people) together. Also: to provide (a person)
with something; to provide something for.
| 1909 Chicago Sunday Tribune 28 Mar. (Worker's Mag.) 3/2 They [sc. his employers] hooked him up with another young fellow who knew the practical side of things, and the two worked together in team formation. 1911 Dothan (Alabama) Eagle (Electronic text) 9 Dec. Wonder what kind of female..she's going to hook me up with this time? 1983 UNC-CH Campus Slang (Univ. N. Carolina, Chapel Hill) (typescript) Nov. 3 Hook me up with some bills. 1999 Independent (Nexis) 14 Mar. 51 Serendipity has a habit of hooking us up again and each time is like a joyful reunion. 2005 W. J. Smith Enemies in Disguise 33 My friend was just telling me that he needs a haircut, can you hook him up for me? |