Definition of "hook"

hook

/hʊk/

noun
plural hooks
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.
  Quotations
  1733–1737, Alexander Pope, [Imitations of Horace], London: […] R[obert] Dodsley [et al.]
  Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep, / Drowsed with the fume of poppies, while thy hook / Spares the next swath and all its twinèd flowers: [...]
  1819 September 19, John Keats, “To Autumn”, in Lamia, Isabella, the Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems, London: […] [Thomas Davison] for Taylor and Hessey, […], published 1820, stanza 2, page 138
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.
  Quotations
  A shop of all the qualities, that manLoues woman for, besides that hooke of Wiuing,
  1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act V, scene v]
9. An advantageous hold.
  Quotations
  “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.
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.
  Quotations
  The hook of Good Boys, Hollywood's latest odyssey of comic adolescent mischief, is that the kids behaving badly are, for once, truly kids.
  2019 August 14, 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 4 March 2021
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.
  Quotations
  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.
  2017 January 20, 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.
  Quotations
  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.
  Quotations
  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.
  Quotations
  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
  In detailing the proposed shortening of the Czech Republic to Česko…the hook (hacek) erroneously appeared over the letter “e” instead of the “C”.
  2004, Keesing’s Record of World Events L:i–xii, page unknown
24. Senses relating to sports.
  1. (baseball) A curveball.
  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.
    Quotations
    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
    Quotations
    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.
    2011 December 18, 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.
  Quotations
  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.
  Quotations
  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”)
  Quotations
  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
third-person singular simple present hooks, present participle hooking, simple past and past participle hooked
1. (transitive) To attach a hook to.
2. (transitive) To catch with a hook (hook a fish).
3. (transitive) To work yarn into a fabric using a hook; to crochet.
  Quotations
  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.
5. (transitive) To ensnare or obligate someone, as if with a hook.
6. (UK, US, slang, archaic) To steal.
7. (transitive) To connect (hook into, hook together).
8. (usually in passive) To make addicted; to captivate.
9. (cricket, golf, basketball) To play a hook shot.
  Quotations
  "Hey, Sara! Watch this hook shot!" he shouted as he hooked the ball right through the net—swish!
  2012, Roland Johnson, Jeremya Jones: A King's Kid, page 93
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)
12. (soccer, bowling) To swerve a ball; kick or throw a ball so it swerves or bends.
  Quotations
  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.
  2010 December 29, Sam Sheringham, “Liverpool 0 - 1 Wolverhampton”, in BBC‎
13. (intransitive, slang) To engage in prostitution.
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 bend; to be curved.
  Quotations
  10 mins later, at the point where the road hooks sharp to the left, continue straight on through the wood along a mule track […]
  2020, Roman Martin, Azores: The finest coastal and mountain walks, page 229
18. (intransitive) To move or go with a sudden turn.