- a curved or angular piece of metal or other hard substance for catching, pulling, holding, or suspending something.
- a fishhook.
- anything that catches; snare; trap.
- something that attracts attention or serves as an enticement: The product is good but we need a sales hook to get people to buy it.
- something having a sharp curve, bend, or angle at one end, as a mark or symbol.
- a sharp curve or angle in the length or course of anything.
- a curved arm of land jutting into the water; a curved peninsula: the neighborhood of Red Hook, Brooklyn, situated on a peninsula in upper New York Bay.
- a recurved and pointed organ or appendage of an animal or plant.
- a small curved catch inserted into a loop to form a clothes fastener.
- Sports.
- the path described by a ball, as in baseball, bowling, or golf, that curves in a direction opposite to the throwing hand or to the side of the ball from which it was struck.
- a ball describing such a path.
- a short, circular punch delivered with the elbow bent.
- Music.
- a stroke or line attached to the stem of eighth notes, sixteenth notes, etc.
- an appealing melodic phrase, orchestral ornament, refrain, etc., often important to a popular song's commercial success.
- an accidental short bend formed in a piece of bar stock during rolling.
- hands or fingers: Get your hooks off that cake!
- a pickpocket.
- a triangular plate or knee that binds together the stringers and plating at each end of a vessel.
- to seize, fasten, suspend from, pierce, or catch hold of and draw with or as if with a hook.
- to catch (fish) with a fishhook.
- to steal or seize by stealth.
- to catch or trick by artifice; snare.
- (of a bull or other horned animal) to catch on the horns or attack with the horns.
- to catch hold of and draw (loops of yarn) through cloth with or as if with a hook.
- to make (a rug, garment, etc.) in this fashion.
- to hit or throw (a ball) so that a hook results.
- to deliver a hook with: The champion hooked a right to his opponent's jaw.
- to push (a ball) backward with the foot in scrummage from the front line.
- to make hook-shaped; crook.
- to become attached or fastened by or as if by a hook.
- to curve or bend like a hook.
- Sports.
- (of a player) to hook the ball.
- (of a ball) to describe a hook in course.
- to depart hastily: We'd better hook for home.
- hook up,
- to fasten with a hook or hooks.
- to assemble or connect, as the components of a machine: They helped me hook up my new home security system.
- to connect to a central source, as of power or water: The house hasn't been hooked up to the city's water system yet.
- to join, meet, or become associated with: He never had a decent job until he hooked up with this company.
- to have casual sex or a romantic date without a long-term commitment: He doesn't know her very well, but he hooked up with her a couple of times.
- to supply something scarce or illicit to: My supply of painkillers is totally dry—do you know somebody who can hook me up?The concert is sold out, but my sister knows a guy in the band, so we’re hoping she can hook us up with some tickets.
- by any means, whether just or unjust, legal or illegal.
- to receive or subject to a dismissal: The rumor is that he got the hook.
- to run away; depart; flee: He hooked it when he saw the truant officer.
- entirely; completely: He fell for the story—hook, line, and sinker.
- off the hook,
- out of trouble; released from some difficulty: This time there was no one around to get him off the hook.
- free of obligation: Her brother paid all her bills and got her off the hook.
- extremely or shockingly excellent: Wow, that song is off the hook!
- on one's own initiative or responsibility; independently.
- on the hook, Slang.
- to work as a prostitute.
- a piece of material, usually metal, curved or bent and used to suspend, catch, hold, or pull something
- short for fish-hook
- a trap or snare
- something that attracts or is intended to be an attraction
- something resembling a hook in design or use
- a sharp bend or angle in a geological formation, esp a river
- a sharply curved spit of land
- a short swinging blow delivered from the side with the elbow bent
- a shot in which the ball is hit square on the leg side with the bat held horizontally
- a shot that causes the ball to swerve sharply from right to left
- the top of a breaking wave
- the act of hooking an opposing player
- a stroke added to the stem of a written or printed note to indicate time values shorter than a crotchet
- a catchy musical phrase in a pop song
- another name for a sickle
- a nautical word for anchor
- by any means
- to be dismissed from employment
- completely
- off the hook
- out of danger; free from obligation or guilt
- (of a telephone receiver) not on the support, so that incoming calls cannot be received
- on one's own initiative
- on the hook slang
- waiting
- in a dangerous or difficult situation
- to leave
- to fasten or be fastened with or as if with a hook or hooks
- to catch (something, such as a fish) on a hook
- to curve like or into the shape of a hook
- (of bulls, elks, etc) to catch or gore with the horns
- to make (a rug) by hooking yarn through a stiff fabric backing with a special instrument
- to cut (grass or herbage) with a sickle
- to hit (an opponent) with a hook
- to impede (an opposing player) by catching hold of him with the stick
- to play (a ball) with a hook
- to obtain and pass (the ball) backwards from a scrum to a member of one's team, using the feet
- to play (a ball) with a hook
- to trick
- (tr) a slang word for steal
- to run or go quickly away