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hook
hook / hoŏk/ • n. 1. a piece of metal or other material, curved or bent back at an angle, for catching hold of or hanging things on: a picture hook. ∎ (also fishhook) a bent piece of metal, typically barbed and baited, for catching fish. ∎ a cradle on which a telephone receiver rests. ∎ fig. a thing designed to catch people's attention: companies are looking for a sales hook. ∎ a chorus or repeated instrumental passage in a piece of music, esp. a pop or rock song, that gives it immediate appeal and makes it easy to remember. 2. a curved cutting instrument, esp. as used for reaping or shearing. 3. a short swinging punch made with the elbow bent, esp. in boxing: a perfectly timed right hook to the chin. ∎ Golf a stroke that makes the ball deviate in flight in the direction of the follow-through (from right to left for a right-handed player), typically inadvertently. Compare with slice. 4. a curved stroke in handwriting, esp. as made in learning to write. ∎ Mus. an added stroke transverse to the stem in the symbol for an eighth note or other note. 5. [usu. in place names] a curved promontory or sand spit. • v. 1. [tr.] attach or fasten with a hook or hooks: the truck had a red lamp hooked to its tailgate she tried to hook up her bra. ∎ [intr.] be or become attached with a hook: a ladder that hooks over the roof ridge. ∎ bend or be bent into the shape of a hook so as to fasten around or to an object: [tr.] he hooked his thumbs in his belt | [intr.] her legs hooked around mine. 2. [tr.] catch with a hook: he hooked a 24-lb pike. ∎ (usu. be hooked) inf. captivate: I was hooked by John's radical zeal. ∎ archaic, inf. steal. 3. [tr.] Golf strike (the ball) or play (a stroke) so that the ball deviates in the direction of the follow-through, typically inadvertently. ∎ [intr.] Boxing punch one's opponent with the elbow bent. 4. [tr.] Rugby push (the ball) backward with the foot from the front line in a scrum. ∎ [intrans.] (of a player) hook the ball. PHRASES: by hook or by crook by any possible means: the government intends, by hook or by crook, to hold on to the land. get one's hooks into inf. get hold of: they were going to move out rather than let Mel get his hooks into them. get (or give someone) the hook inf. be dismissed (or dismiss someone) from a job. hook, line, and sinker used to emphasize that someone has been completely deceived or tricked: he fell hook, line, and sinker for this year's April Fool joke. off the hook 1. inf. no longer in difficulty or trouble: I lied to get him off the hook. 2. (of a telephone receiver) not on its rest, and so preventing incoming calls. on the hook for inf. (in a financial context) responsible for: he's on the hook for about $9.5 million. on one's own hook inf., dated on one's own account; by oneself.PHRASAL VERBS: hook someone/something up (or hook up) link or be linked to electronic equipment: Ali was hooked up to an electrocardiograph.DERIVATIVES: hook·less adj. hook·let / -lit/ n. hook·like / -ˌlīk/ adj. |
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Cite this article
"hook." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "hook." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-hook.html "hook." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-hook.html |
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Hook
Hook, Hooke, usually ‘(place at) the hook of land, or bend in a river or hill’, OE hōc: Hook Gtr. London. Hoke 1227. Hook Hants., near Basingstoke. Hoc 1223. Hook Wilts. La Hok 1238. Hooke Dorset. Lahoc 1086 (DB). With the French definite article la in the early form.
However the following have a different origin: Hook E. R. Yorks. Huck 12th cent. OE *hūc ‘river-bend’. Hook Norton Oxon. Hocneratune early 10th cent. Possibly ‘farmstead of a tribe called *Hoccanēre’. OE tribal name (meaning ‘people at Hocca's hill-slope’, from OE pers. name and ōra) + tūn. |
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Cite this article
A. D. MILLS. "Hook." A Dictionary of British Place-Names. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. A. D. MILLS. "Hook." A Dictionary of British Place-Names. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O40-Hook.html A. D. MILLS. "Hook." A Dictionary of British Place-Names. 2003. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O40-Hook.html |
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hook
hook sb. OE. hōc = MLG., MDu. hōk (Du. hoek) corner, angle, point of land, rel. to OE. haca bolt, OS. haco (MDu. hake, Du. haak), OHG. hāko (G. haken) hook, ON. haki, and Russ. kógot' claw, iron hook.
Hence hook vb. †bend, curve XIII; attach (as) with a hook XVI. |
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Cite this article
T. F. HOAD. "hook." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "hook." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-hook.html T. F. HOAD. "hook." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-hook.html |
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hook
hook by hook or by crook by one means or another; the expression is of longstanding, but there is no clear evidence for the origin.
hook, line, and sinker used to emphasize that someone has been completely deceived or tricked (with allusion to the taking of bait by a fish). |
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Cite this article
ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "hook." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "hook." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-hook.html ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "hook." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-hook.html |
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hook
hook (huuk) n. a surgical instrument with a bent or curved tip, used to hold, lift, or retract tissue at operation.
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"hook." A Dictionary of Nursing. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "hook." A Dictionary of Nursing. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O62-hook.html "hook." A Dictionary of Nursing. 2008. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O62-hook.html |
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hook
hook
•betook, book, brook, Brooke, Chinook, chook, Coke, cook, Cooke, crook, forsook, Gluck, hook, look, mistook, nook, partook, rook, schnook, schtuck, Shilluk, shook, Tobruk, took, undercook, undertook
•handbook
•chapbook, scrapbook
•cash book • passbook • sketchbook
•chequebook • textbook
•daybook, playbook
•casebook • phrase book • dybbuk
•pocketbook • copybook • storybook
•guidebook • logbook • songbook
•scorebook • hornbook • sourcebook
•notebook • cookbook • yearbook
•picture book • wordbook • workbook
•caoutchouc • Windhoek • billhook
•fishhook • skyhook • buttonhook
•tenterhook • wet look • outlook
•Inuk • inglenook • Sihanouk
•Pembroke • Innsbruck • donnybrook
•Uruk • Osnabrück • Beaverbrook
•nainsook
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Cite this article
"hook." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "hook." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-hook.html "hook." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-hook.html |
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