hook

Meaning

Noun

1. A rod bent into a curved shape, typically with one end free and the other end secured to a rope or other attachment.
2. A barbed metal hook used for fishing; a fishhook.
3. Any of various hook-shaped agricultural implements such as a billhook.
4. The curved needle used in the art of crochet.
5. The part of a hinge which is fixed to a post, and on which a door or gate hangs and turns.
6. A loop shaped like a hook under certain written letters, for example, g and j.
7. A tie-in to a current event or trend that makes a news story or editorial relevant and timely.
8. A snare; a trap.
9. An advantageous hold.
10. (in-plural) The projecting points of the thighbones of cattle; called also hook bones.
11. (informal) Removal or expulsion from a group or activity.
12. A field sown two years in succession.
13. A brief, punchy opening statement intended to get attention from an audience, reader, or viewer, and make them want to continue to listen to a speech, read a book, or watch a play.
14. A gimmick or element of a creative work intended to be attention-grabbing for the audience; a compelling idea for a story that will be sure to attract people's attention.
15. (slang) A finesse.
16. (slang) A jack (the playing card).
17. A spit or narrow cape of sand or gravel turned landward at the outer end, such as Sandy Hook in New Jersey.
18. A catchy musical phrase which forms the basis of a popular song.
19. (informal) A ship's anchor.
20. Part of a system's operation that can be intercepted to change or augment its behaviour.
21. An instance of playing a word perpendicular to a word already on the board, adding a letter to the start or the end of the word to form a new word.
22. A diacritical mark shaped like the upper part of a question mark, as in ỏ.
23. (rare) A háček.
24. Senses relating to sports.
25. Senses relating to sports.
26. Senses relating to sports.
27. Senses relating to sports.
28. Senses relating to sports.
29. Senses relating to sports.
30. Senses relating to sports.
31. (Australia, Canada) Any of the chevrons denoting rank.
32. (slang) A prostitute.
33. (UK, obsolete, slang) A pickpocket.
34. Synonym of shoulder (“the part of a wave that has not yet broken”).
35. (historical) A knee-shaped wooden join connecting the keel to the stem (post forming the frontmost part of the bow) or the sternpost in cog-like vessels or similar vessels.

Verb

1. (transitive) To attach a hook to.
2. (intransitive) To become attached, as by a hook.
3. (transitive) To catch with a hook (hook a fish).
4. (transitive) To work yarn into a fabric using a hook; to crochet.
5. (transitive) To insert in a curved way reminiscent of a hook.
6. (transitive) To ensnare or obligate someone, as if with a hook.
7. (UK, US, archaic, slang) To steal.
8. (transitive) To connect (hook into, hook together).
9. To make addicted; to captivate.
10. To acquire as a spouse.
11. To play a hook shot.
12. To succeed in heeling the ball back out of a scrum (used particularly of the team's designated hooker).
13. To use the hockey stick to trip or block another player
14. To swerve a ball; kick or throw a ball so it swerves or bends.
15. (intransitive, slang) To engage in prostitution.
16. To play a word perpendicular to another word by adding a single letter to the existing word.
17. (slang) To finesse.
18. (transitive) To seize or pierce with the points of the horns, as cattle in attacking enemies; to gore.
19. (intransitive) To bend; to be curved.
20. (intransitive) To move or go with a sudden turn.

Synonyms

catch

fishhook

hang

clasp

snare

gaff

barb

fasten

hitch

attach

snag

trap

🪤

latch

crotchet

crook

caught

hang up

couple

👫

peg

hanger

claw

lock

🔒

crochet

thieve

be caught

soak

bait

snitch

surcharge

cabbage

addict

tackle

seize

fleece

sickle

pinch

come-on

fix

rob

nobble

bend

pilfer

overcharge

lure

grip

secure

nail

pawl

join

hook on

Translations

crochet

🪝

hameçon

Haken

🪝

gancio

🪝

gancho

🪝

accrocher

🪝

gancho

🪝

uncino

🪝

enganchar

🪝

haak

🪝

anzuelo

🪝

amo

🪝

haken

🪝

garfio

🪝

haken

🪝

Pronounced as (IPA)

/hʊk/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: hoke

Inherited from Old English: hōc

Cognate with Western Frisian: heak

Cognate with Dutch: haak

Cognate with Western Frisian: -

Cognate with Dutch: hoek

Cognate with Low German:

In summary

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.