hook
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: enpr: ho͝ok
ipa: /hʊk/
note: sometimes in Northern England and Ireland, otherwise obsolete
enpr: ho͞ok
ipa: /huːk/
note: sometimes in Northern England and Ireland, otherwise obsolete
ipa: /hʉk/
rhymes: -ʊk
Forms: form: hooks
form: hooking
form: hooked
form: hooked
Etymology: From Middle English hoke, from Old English hōc, 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
Compare West Frisian heak, Dutch haak (“hook”)) (compare West Frisian/Dutch hoek (“hook, angle, corner”), Low German Hook, Huuk); also related to hake.
Senses: examples: text: Hook the bag here, and the conveyor will carry it away.
glosses: To attach a hook to.
examples: text: The utensil holder hooks onto the side of the dishrack.
glosses: To become attached, as by a hook.
examples: text: He hooked a snake accidentally, and was so scared he dropped his rod into the water.
glosses: To catch with a hook (hook a fish).
examples: text: No one seems to want anything but hooked mats now.
ref: 1917, L M Montgomery, Anne's House of Dreams:
glosses: To work yarn into a fabric using a hook; to crochet.
examples: text: He hooked his fingers through his belt loops.
glosses: To insert in a curved way reminiscent of a hook.
examples: text: She's only here to try to hook a husband.
text: A free trial is a good way to hook customers.
glosses: To ensnare or obligate someone, as if with a hook.
glosses: To steal.
examples: text: If you hook your network cable into the jack, you'll be on the network.
glosses: To connect (hook into, hook together).
examples: text: He had gotten hooked on cigarettes in his youth.
text: I watched one episode of that TV series and now I'm hooked.
qualifier: usually passive voice
glosses: To make addicted; to captivate.
examples: text: People talk about so and so getting married and they always comment about the class or potential class status of the person this woman had "hooked." You know, "He comes from a working class background but he's studying to be a lawyer and she's going to be all set."
ref: 1990 February 4, Vanessa Nemeth, Stephanie Poggi, “Bumps And All”, in Gay Community News, volume 17, number 29, page 12:
glosses: To acquire as a spouse.
examples: text: "Hey, Sara! Watch this hook shot!" he shouted as he hooked the ball right through the net—swish!
ref: 2012, Roland Johnson, Jeremya Jones: A King's Kid, page 93:
topics: ball-games
basketball
cricket
games
golf
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: To play a hook shot.
topics: ball-games
games
hobbies
lifestyle
rugby
sports
glosses: To succeed in heeling the ball back out of a scrum (used particularly of the team's designated hooker).
examples: text: The opposing team's forward hooked me, but the referee didn't see it, so no penalty.
topics: hobbies
ice-hockey
lifestyle
skating
sports
qualifier: field hockey
glosses: To use the hockey stick to trip or block another player
examples: text: The Reds carved the first opening of the second period as Glen Johnson's pull-back found David Ngog but the Frenchman hooked wide from six yards.
ref: 2010 December 29, Sam Sheringham, “Liverpool 0 - 1 Wolverhampton”, in BBC:
topics: ball-games
bowling
games
hobbies
lifestyle
soccer
sports
glosses: To swerve a ball; kick or throw a ball so it swerves or bends.
examples: text: I had a cheap flat in the bad part of town, and I could watch the working girls hooking from my bedroom window.
glosses: To engage in prostitution.
topics: Scrabble
board-games
games
glosses: To play a word perpendicular to another word by adding a single letter to the existing word.
topics: bridge
games
glosses: To finesse.
glosses: To seize or pierce with the points of the horns, as cattle in attacking enemies; to gore.
examples: text: 10 mins later, at the point where the road hooks sharp to the left, continue straight on through the wood along a mule track […]
ref: 2020, Roman Martin, Azores: The finest coastal and mountain walks, page 229:
glosses: To bend; to be curved.
glosses: To move or go with a sudden turn.
Derived terms: hook-a-duck
hook-and-loop
hook-and-loop fastener
hook-and-pile fastener
hooker
hook it up
hook off
hook up
hook up on