crook

Meaning

Noun

1. A bend; turn; curve; curvature; a flexure.
2. A bending of the knee; a genuflection.
3. A bent or curved part; a curving piece or portion (of anything).
4. (obsolete) A lock or curl of hair.
5. (obsolete) A support beam consisting of a post with a cross-beam resting upon it; a bracket or truss consisting of a vertical piece, a horizontal piece, and a strut.
6. A specialized staff with a semi-circular bend (a "hook") at one end used by shepherds to control their herds.
7. A bishop's standard staff of office.
8. An artifice; a trick; a contrivance.
9. A person who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things; a criminal.
10. A pothook.
11. A small tube, usually curved, applied to a trumpet, horn, etc., to change its pitch or key.

Verb

1. (transitive) To bend, or form into a hook.
2. (intransitive) To become bent or hooked.
3. To turn from the path of rectitude; to pervert; to misapply; to twist.

Adj

1. (Australia, New-Zealand, slang) Bad, unsatisfactory, not up to standard.
2. (Australia, New-Zealand, slang) Ill, sick.
3. (Australia, New-Zealand, slang) Annoyed, angry; upset.

Synonyms

bend

curve

rogue

swindler

cheat

criminal

turn

scoundrel

twist

malefactor

felon

villain

🦹‍♂️

trickster

hook

🪝

crosier

thief

deceiver

rascal

knave

staff

rook

crozier

outlaw

corner

imposter

shepherd’s crook

fraud

con man

wind

con artist

cheater

bad guy

twister

delinquent

cane

slicker

stick

culprit

renegade

meander

offender

liar

bow

🙇

scroll

📜

jockey

flexure

flex

faker

hoodwinker

lawbreaker

Translations

escroc

Gauner

krümmen

lestofante

Ganove

courbe

Betrüger

Krümmung

curva

truffatore

Hirtenstab

Biegung

crosse

γκλίτσα

boef

Pronounced as (IPA)

/kɹʊk/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: croke

Inherited from Old English: *crōc

Cognate with Dutch: kreuk

Cognate with Middle Low German: kroke

Cognate with Danish: krog

Cognate with Swedish: krok

Cognate with Icelandic: krókur

Inherited from Middle English: crooken

Inherited from Old English: *crōcian

Cognate with Dutch: kreuken

In summary

From Middle English croke, crok, from Old English *crōc (“hook, bend, crook”), from Proto-West Germanic *krōk, from Proto-Germanic *krōkaz (“bend, hook”), from Proto-Indo-European *greg- (“tracery, basket, bend”).
Cognate with Dutch kreuk (“a bend, fold, wrinkle”), Middle Low German kroke, krake (“fold, wrinkle”), Danish krog (“crook, hook”), Swedish krok (“crook, hook”), Icelandic krókur (“hook”).
Compare typologically Czech křivák (< křivý < Proto-Slavic *krivъ, whence also *krivьda).

Sentences

He arose and , taking up his crook , began to awaken the sheep that still slept .