Hook /(ho͝ok; 277)/

Hook

n.
  1. A piece of metal, or other hard material, formed or bent into a curve or at an angle, for catching, holding, or sustaining anything; as, a hook for catching fish; a hook for fastening a gate; a boat hook, etc.
  2. That part of a hinge which is fixed to a post, and on which a door or gate hangs and turns.
  3. An implement for cutting grass or grain; a sickle; an instrument for cutting or lopping; a billhook.
    Like slashing Bentley with his desperate hook.
  4. See Eccentric, and V-hook. (Steam Engin.)
  5. A snare; a trap. [R.]
  6. A field sown two years in succession. [Prov. Eng.]
  7. The projecting points of the thigh bones of cattle; -- called also hook bones.
  8. A spit or narrow cape of sand or gravel turned landward at the outer end; as, Sandy Hook in New Jersey. (Geog.)
  9. The curving motion of a ball, as in bowling or baseball, curving away from the hand which threw the ball; in golf, a curving motion in the direction of the golfer who struck the ball. (Sports)
  10. A procedure within the encoding of a computer program which allows the user to modify the program so as to import data from or export data to other programs. (Computers)

Phrases & Compounds
By hook or by crook
one way or other; by any means, direct or indirect.
Off the hook
freed from some obligation or difficulty; as, to get off the hook by getting someone else to do the job.
Off the hooks
unhinged; disturbed; disordered.
On one's own hook
on one's own account or responsibility; by one's self.
To go off the hooks
to die.
Bid hook
a small boat hook.
Chain hook
See under Chain.
Deck hook
a horizontal knee or frame, in the bow of a ship, on which the forward part of the deck rests.
Hook and eye
one of the small wire hooks and loops for fastening together the opposite edges of a garment, etc.
Hook bill
the strongly curved beak of a bird.
Hook ladder
a ladder with hooks at the end by which it can be suspended, as from the top of a wall.
Hook motion
a valve gear which is reversed by V hooks.
Hook squid
any squid which has the arms furnished with hooks, instead of suckers, as in the genera Enoploteuthis and Onychteuthis.
Hook wrench
a wrench or spanner, having a hook at the end, instead of a jaw, for turning a bolthead, nut, or coupling.

Hook

v. t.

imp. & p. p. Hooked; p. pr. & vb. n. Hooking

  1. To catch or fasten with a hook or hooks; to seize, capture, or hold, as with a hook, esp. with a disguised or baited hook; hence, to secure by allurement or artifice; to entrap; to catch; as, to hook a dress; to hook a trout.
    Hook him, my poor dear, . . . at any sacrifice.
    — W. Collins.
  2. To seize or pierce with the points of the horns, as cattle in attacking enemies; to gore.
  3. To steal. [Colloq. Eng. & U.S.]

Phrases & Compounds
To hook on
to fasten or attach by, or as by, hook.

Hook

v. i.
  1. To bend; to curve as a hook.
  2. To move or go with a sudden turn; [Slang or Prov. Eng.]