hook

Meanings

Noun

• A rod bent into a curved shape, typically with one end free and the other end secured to a rope or other attachment.
• A barbed metal hook used for fishing; a fishhook.
• Any of various hook-shaped agricultural implements such as a billhook.
• The curved needle used in the art of crochet.
• The part of a hinge which is fixed to a post, and on which a door or gate hangs and turns.
• A loop shaped like a hook under certain written letters, for example, g and j.
• A tie-in to a current event or trend that makes a news story or editorial relevant and timely.
• A snare; a trap.
• The projecting points of the thighbones of cattle; called also hook bones.
• Removal or expulsion from a group or activity.
• A field sown two years in succession.
• 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.
• 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.
• A finesse.
• A jack (the playing card).
• A spit or narrow cape of sand or gravel turned landward at the outer end, such as Sandy Hook in New Jersey.
• A catchy musical phrase which forms the basis of a popular song.
• A ship's anchor.
• Part of a system's operation that can be intercepted to change or augment its behaviour.
• 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.
• a diacritical mark shaped like the upper part of a question mark, as in ỏ.
• a háček.
• Any of the chevrons denoting rank.
• A prostitute.
• A pickpocket.

Verb

• To attach a hook to.
• To catch with a hook .
• To work yarn into a fabric using a hook; to crochet.
• To insert in a curved way reminiscent of a hook.
• To ensnare or obligate someone, as if with a hook.
• To steal.
• To connect (hook into, hook together).
• To make addicted; to captivate.
• To play a hook shot.
• To succeed in heeling the ball back out of a scrum (used particularly of the team's designated hooker).
• To engage in the illegal maneuver of hooking (i.e., using the hockey stick to trip or block another player)
• To swerve a ball; kick or throw a ball so it swerves or bends.
• To engage in prostitution.
• To play a word perpendicular to another word by adding a single letter to the existing word.
• To finesse.
• To seize or pierce with the points of the horns, as cattle in attacking enemies; to gore.
• To move or go with a sudden turn.

Related

Narrower meaning words

• grappling hook

Origin

• From Middle English hoke, from Old English hōc, from Proto-West Germanic *hōk, from Proto-Germanic *hōkaz, variant of *hakô, probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *kog-, *keg-, *keng-.
• Compare West Frisian heak, Dutch haak) (compare West Frisian/Dutch hoek, Low German, Huuk); also related to hake.