rook
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ɹʊk/
note: sometimes in Northern England; otherwise obsolete
ipa: /ɹuːk/
ipa: /ɹʉk/
homophone: ruck (most accents without the foot-strut split)
rhymes: -ʊk
Forms: form: rooks
Etymology: * Inherited from Middle English rok, roke, from Old English hrōc, from Proto-West Germanic *hrōk, from Proto-Germanic *hrōkaz (compare Old Norse hrókr, Saterland Frisian Rouk, Dutch roek, obsolete German Ruch), from Proto-Indo-European *kerk- (“crow, raven”) (compare Old Irish cerc (“hen”), Old Prussian kerko (“loon, diver”), dialectal Bulgarian кро́кон (krókon, “raven”), Ancient Greek κόραξ (kórax, “crow”), Old Armenian ագռաւ (agṙaw), Avestan 𐬐𐬀𐬵𐬭𐬐𐬀𐬙𐬀𐬝 (kahrkatat̰, “rooster”), Sanskrit कृकर (kṛkara, “rooster”)), Ukrainian крук (kruk, “raven”).
* (parson): Probably from the resemblance in plumage to a parson's garments.
Senses: examples: text: But what distinguishes the rook from the crow is the bill; the nostrils, chin, and sides of that and the mouth being in old birds white and bared of feathers, by often thrusting the bill into the ground in search of the erucæ of the Dor-beetle*; the rook then, instead of being proscribed, should be treated as the farmer's friend; as it clears his ground from caterpillars, that do incredible damage by eating the roots of the corn.
ref: 1768, Thomas Pennant, British Zoology, page 168:
text: To-night the winds begin to rise
⁠And roar from yonder dropping day:
⁠The last red leaf is whirl’d away,
The rooks are blown about the skies; […]
ref: 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XV”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 24:
glosses: A European bird, Corvus frugilegus, of the crow family.
examples: text: So I am (like an old rook, who is ruined by gaming) forced to live on the good fortune of the pushing young men, whose fancies are so vigorous that they ensure their success in their adventures with Muses, by their strength and imagination.
ref: 7 April 1705, William Wycherley, Letter to Alexander Pope in The Works of Alexander Pope 36
synonyms: word: bamboozler
word: bouncer
word: bullshitter
word: cheat
word: cheater
word: cogger
word: cony-catcher
word: crammer
word: deceiver
word: deceptor
word: fabricator
word: fabulist
word: falser
word: gabber
word: grifter
word: guiler
word: liar
word: losenger
word: mocker
word: pseudologist
word: rook
word: Scandaroon
word: shammer
word: Spanish athlete
word: swindler
word: swike
word: treacher
word: trickster
word: trucker
word: wernard
word: bunco-steerer
word: charlatan
word: cheat
word: cheater
word: chiseler
word: cozener
word: defrauder
word: finagler
word: fleecer
word: fraud
word: fraudmeister
word: fraudster
word: humbug
word: goldbrick
word: grifter
word: gull
word: gyp
word: landshark
word: pickpenny
word: rook
word: scammer
word: scamp
word: Scandaroon
word: schemester
word: sharper
word: slicker
word: spieler
word: swindler
word: trapan
word: trepan
glosses: A cheat or swindler; someone who betrays.
glosses: A bad deal; a rip-off.
glosses: A type of firecracker used by farmers to scare birds of the same name.
examples: text: Adventists still do not really know how to play cards, apart from the sanitized version of bridge, Rook.
ref: 2007, Malcolm Bull, Keith Lockhart, Seeking a Sanctuary: Seventh-day Adventism and the American Dream, page 174:
glosses: A trick-taking game, usually played with a specialized deck of cards.
glosses: A parson.
Derived terms: Johnny rook
rook and rabbit rifle
rookery
rook rifle
Related terms: squab