hook

Etymology

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.

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.
   “What makes you so sure that nobody knows you've got a hook into him?” Ward asked. 2020, Joel W. Barrows, Deep Red Cover
10. (in the plural) The projecting points of the thighbones of cattle; called also hook bones.
11. (informal) Removal or expulsion from a group or activity.
    He is not handling this job, so we're giving him the hook.
12. (agriculture) A field sown two years in succession.
13. (authorship) 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. (narratology) 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.
    The hook of Good Boys, Hollywood's latest odyssey of comic adolescent mischief, is that the kids behaving badly are, for once, truly kids. 14 August 2019, A. A. Dowd, “Good Boys Puts a Tween Spin on the R-rated Teen Comedy, to Mostly Funny Effect”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 2021-03-04
15. (bridge, slang) A finesse.
16. (card games, slang) A jack (the playing card).
17. (geography) A spit or narrow cape of sand or gravel turned landward at the outer end, such as Sandy Hook in New Jersey.
18. (music) A catchy musical phrase which forms the basis of a popular song.
    The song's hook snared me.
    Guitarist Jade Puget and vocalist Davey Havok have distilled AFI’s strengths (a ferocious, post-hardcore rhythmic backbone; goth-tinctured, post-punky guitars; and Havok’s desperate, dramatic croon) into 14 taut, hook-driven songs. 20 January 2017, Annie Zaleski, “AFI sounds refreshed and rejuvenated on its 10th album, AFI (The Blood Album)”, in The A.V. Club
19. (nautical, informal) A ship's anchor.
20. (programming) Part of a system's operation that can be intercepted to change or augment its behaviour.
    We've added hooks to allow undefined message types to be handled with custom code.
    In lieu of those unneeded hooks, write code to fail fast and prevent gaps from becoming a problem. 2015, Rachel Alt-Simmons, Agile by Design, page 182
21. (Scrabble) 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.
    Setup plays can also be made when you do not have the needed letter but believe your opponent doesn't know the hook owing to its obscurity. 2003, Andrew Fisher, David Webb, The Art of Scrabble, page 58
22. (typography) A diacritical mark shaped like the upper part of a question mark, as in ỏ.
23. (typography, rare) A háček.
    Common diacritics in Slavonic language are the hook ˇ (as in haček – Czech for ‘hook’) and the stroke ´ (robić – Polish for ‘do/make’). 2003, Language Issues, XV-XVIII, page 36
    In Czech, palatalization is normally indicated by the symbol ˇ, called haček or “hook.” 2003, David Adams, The Song and Duet Texts of Antonín Dvořák, page 168
    2004, Keesing’s Record of World Events L:i–xii, page unknown In detailing the proposed shortening of the Czech Republic to Česko…the hook (hacek) erroneously appeared over the letter “e” instead of the “C”.
24. Senses relating to sports.
    1. (baseball) A curveball.
       He threw a hook in the dirt.
    2. (basketball) a basketball shot in which the offensive player, usually turned perpendicular to the basket, gently throws the ball with a sweeping motion of his arm in an upward arc with a follow-through which ends over his head. Also called hook shot.
    3. (bowling) A ball that is rolled in a curved line.
       However, for pins on the bowler's right, such as the 3, 6, 9, or 10, move more toward the center of the foul line if you bowl a straight ball or slightly to the left of the center of the foul line if you bowl a hook. 1969, Harold Keith, Sports and Games, page 102
    4. (boxing) a type of punch delivered with the arm rigid and partially bent and the fist travelling nearly horizontally mesially along an arc
       The heavyweight delivered a few powerful hooks that staggered his opponent.
       American Ward was too quick and too slick for his British rival, landing at will with razor sharp jabs and hooks and even bullying Froch at times. 18 December 2011, Ben Dirs, “Carl Froch outclassed by dazzling Andre Ward”, in BBC Sport
    5. (cricket) A type of shot played by swinging the bat in a horizontal arc, hitting the ball high in the air to the leg side, often played to balls which bounce around head height.
    6. (golf) A golf shot that (for the right-handed player) curves unintentionally to the left. (See draw, slice, fade.)
25. (Canada, Australia, military) Any of the chevrons denoting rank.
26. (slang) A prostitute.
    I was talkin' to a couple of the 'hooks' (female prostitutes) I know. 1983, G. W. Levi Kamel, Downtown Street Hustlers, page 160
27. (UK, slang, obsolete) A pickpocket.
    He preceded me to Dartmoor, where I found his fame even more loudly trumpeted than ever, especially by Manchester “hooks” (pickpockets), who boast of being the rivals of the “Cocks,” or Londoners, in the art of obtaining other people's property without paying for it. 1885, Michael Davitt, Leaves from a Prison Diary, page 18
    "Everybody's a tool over there. Everybody's a hook, except them four guys on the points of the compass. They are eight or ten strong over there." But all professional pickpockets, however expert or however clumsy, operate on the basis of the situation just outlined. 2003, David W. Maurer, Whiz Mob: A Correlation of the Technical Argot of Pickpockets with Their Behavior Pattern, page 58
28. (surfing) Synonym of shoulder (“the part of a wave that has not yet broken”)
    This maneuver involves a sharp turn, back into the hook of the wave. 1963, Grant W. Kuhns, On Surfing, page 67
29. (nautical, chiefly 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.
   Hook the bag here, and the conveyor will carry it away.
2. (transitive) To catch with a hook (hook a fish).
   He hooked a snake accidentally, and was so scared he dropped his rod into the water.
3. (transitive) To work yarn into a fabric using a hook; to crochet.
   No one seems to want anything but hooked mats now. 1917, L M Montgomery, Anne's House of Dreams
4. (transitive) To insert in a curved way reminiscent of a hook.
   He hooked his fingers through his belt loops.
5. (transitive) To ensnare or obligate someone, as if with a hook.
   She's only here to try to hook a husband.
   A free trial is a good way to hook customers.
6. (UK, US, slang, archaic) To steal.
7. (transitive) To connect (hook into, hook together).
   If you hook your network cable into the jack, you'll be on the network.
8. (usually in passive) To make addicted; to captivate.
   He had gotten hooked on cigarettes in his youth.
   I watched one episode of that TV series and now I'm hooked.
9. (cricket, golf) To play a hook shot.
10. (rugby) To succeed in heeling the ball back out of a scrum (used particularly of the team's designated hooker).
11. (field hockey, ice hockey) To engage in the illegal maneuver of hooking (i.e., using the hockey stick to trip or block another player)
    The opposing team's forward hooked me, but the referee didn't see it, so no penalty.
12. (soccer, bowling) To swerve a ball; kick or throw a ball so it swerves or bends.
    The Reds carved the first opening of the second period as Glen Johnson's pull-back found David Ngog but the Frenchman hooked wide from six yards. December 29, 2010, Sam Sheringham, “Liverpool 0 - 1 Wolverhampton”, in BBC
13. (intransitive, slang) To engage in prostitution.
    I had a cheap flat in the bad part of town, and I could watch the working girls hooking from my bedroom window.
14. (Scrabble) To play a word perpendicular to another word by adding a single letter to the existing word.
15. (bridge, slang) To finesse.
16. (transitive) To seize or pierce with the points of the horns, as cattle in attacking enemies; to gore.
17. (intransitive) To move or go with a sudden turn.