DictionaryAI

hook

HUUK/hʊk/

Pluralhooks

Verbhooks, hooking, hooked

52 meanings of hook

Practice

  1. 1
    curved holdernouncountable
    A curved length of metal or other material, with one end open for catching or holding and the other fastened to a support.

    The climber clipped her rope to a hook anchored in the rock face.

    Two hooks on the wall held the heavy iron pans.

    UsageThings hang on a hook.

    Similarpeg

    Note

    The oldest shape in the word, and the one every other sense bends back to. Nearly everything else the word names borrows either the curve or the catching: the fishing barb, the punch, the curling spit of sand, the catchy phrase.

  2. 2
    verbtransitive
    To attach, fasten, or connect one thing to another, especially with a hook; also, to become attached in this way.

    The technician hooked the new monitor into the existing system.

    You can hook several devices together on one network.

    UsageOften hook something up or hook it into a system: hook up a printer.

    Similarconnect, attach, link, fasten, hitch

    Oppositedisconnect, detach, unfasten

  3. 3
    make addictedverbtransitive
    To make someone addicted to or captivated by something.

    The show's cliffhanger hooked viewers from the very first night.

    A good mystery can hook readers within the opening pages.

    UsageUsually passive with on: get hooked on a show, be hooked on cigarettes.

    Similarcaptivate, grip, enthrall, engross, rivet

    Oppositebore

  4. 4
    for fishingnouncountable
    A barbed, curved piece of metal used with a line to catch fish.

    She tied a fresh hook to the end of her line.

    The trout took the hook and dove deep.

  5. 5
    catchy tunenouncountable
    A catchy musical phrase that forms the central, memorable basis of a popular song.

    The producer built the entire track around a four-note hook.

    Pop songs often repeat the hook to make it unforgettable.

    Similarriff, refrain, motif, chorus

    Note

    The part of a song you cannot stop humming, and it forms compounds easily. Critics call music hook-driven, as Annie Zaleski did in 2017 of AFI's fourteen taut songs. A hook may be melodic, rhythmic or lyrical. What defines it is that it catches the listener and comes back again and again.

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • The cited review was written by Annie Zaleski in 2017. avclub.com
    • Zaleski described fourteen AFI songs as taut and hook-driven. en.wiktionary.org
  6. 6
    catch fishverbtransitive
    To catch a fish or other creature by snagging it on a hook.

    Anglers hook salmon as they swim upstream to spawn.

    He hooked a marlin that fought for nearly an hour.

    Similarcatch, snag

  7. 7
    nouncountable
    Something in a creative work, story, or presentation, such as a gimmick, idea, or opening line, meant to grab an audience's attention and keep them interested.

    The novel's hook, a detective who cannot lie, sold the publisher instantly.

    Screenwriters pitch the hook before anything else in the room.

    UsageOften the hook is that + clause.

    Similargimmick, angle, draw, lure

    Note

    The premise that sets a story apart, as narratology and the pitch meeting use the word. It favors one construction: the hook of the film is that.... A. A. Dowd uses it exactly so in 2019 on Good Boys, whose hook is that the kids behaving badly are, for once, truly kids. Pitched aloud, the hook is the sentence that must land before the plot does.

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • The cited Good Boys review was written by A. A. Dowd in 2019. avclub.com
    • Dowd used the construction 'The hook of Good Boys ... is that' and described its premise as children behaving badly. en.wiktionary.org
  8. 8
    punchnouncountable
    A punch delivered with the arm held rigid and partly bent, the fist traveling nearly horizontally in an inward arc.

    The champion's left hook ended the fight in the third round.

    He ducked under the jab but walked straight into a hook.

    UsageUsually with a side, a left hook or a right hook, and often paired with the jab.

    Note

    Boxing names it for the shape the arm makes, bent and swinging round rather than driving straight out. Ben Dirs's 2011 BBC Sport account has Andre Ward landing "razor sharp jabs and hooks" on Carl Froch.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • The boxing name refers to the bent shape of the arm. archive.org
    • A hook swings the bent arm around in a horizontal arc. en.wikipedia.org
    • The report’s date, byline and quotation are accurate. bbc.co.uk
  9. 9
    crochet needlenouncountable
    The needle with a curved, hooked tip that a crocheter uses to draw loops of yarn through one another.

    The pattern calls for a size-five hook and fine cotton thread.

    For thick yarn, you need a much bigger crochet hook than this one.

    UsageUsually called a crochet hook.

  10. 10
    programmingnouncountable
    A point in a system's operation that can be intercepted to change or extend its behavior.

    The framework exposes a hook that runs custom code before each save.

    She registered a hook to log every request the server handled.

    Note

    Programmers talk of adding, exposing or registering hooks. These are points the original code leaves open so that someone else's code can run there and change what happens. The word tends toward the plural, since a system usually offers a set of them. What the word stresses is interception inside the flow, without editing the core code.

  11. 11
    sand stripnouncountable
    A sand or gravel spit, or narrow cape, whose outer tip curves back toward the shore, as at Sandy Hook, New Jersey.

    Sailors anchored safely in the bay sheltered by the hook.

    Erosion slowly reshaped the hook curling out from the shoreline.

    Similarspit, cape, point, headland

    Note

    Geographers use the word for a spit of sand or gravel whose tip curls back toward land, the curve of the bent rod traced along a coastline. That shape is why the word survives in place names, Sandy Hook in New Jersey among them. The water inside the curl is sheltered, which is what makes such a hook useful to sailors.

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • A geographical hook is a sand or gravel spit or narrow cape whose outer end turns landward. en.wiktionary.org
    • Sandy Hook, New Jersey, is named for its hooked shape. home.nps.gov
    • The landform provides sheltered water useful to vessels. nefsc.wordpress.com
  12. 12
    nouncountable
    In bowling, a ball sent down the lane on a curving path instead of a straight one.

    Many league bowlers switch from a straight ball to a hook once they can control the spin.

    The lanes were so oily that her hook barely curved before it reached the pins.

    Note

    Bowlers set the hook against the straight ball, and the choice moves their feet as well as the ball's path. Harold Keith's Sports and Games makes it practical: for pins on the right (the 3, 6, 9 or 10), you start slightly left of center on the foul line if you bowl a hook, nearer the center if you bowl straight. Bowlers also say hook for the amount of spin that makes the ball curve.

  13. 13
    verbtransitive
    To put something into or through an opening so that it curves the way a hook does.

    Hook a finger into the ring and pull the tab back slowly.

    The climber hooked the toe of her boot into a narrow crack and rested her arms.

    UsageUsually hook a finger, foot or toe into or through something.

    Similarcurl

  14. 14
    verbtransitive or intransitive
    In basketball, cricket, or golf, to hit or throw the ball with the stroke known as a hook shot.

    Tall centers learn to hook over a defender because the shot is so hard to block.

    The batter hooked a short ball over the boundary for six.

    Note

    The game decides both the shot and whether hooking is any good. A cricket batter hooks a ball bouncing around head height, sending it to the leg side, in the air or along the ground. A basketball player hooks the ball toward the basket with a sweeping arm that ends over the head. Both are chosen strokes. A golfer who hooks has usually curved the ball left (for a right-hander) without meaning to: in golf the word mostly names a fault.

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 6 facts

    • A cricket hook is played against a ball around head height and directed to the leg side. en.wikipedia.org
    • A hook can send the ball along the ground or through the air to the leg side. en.wikipedia.org
    • A basketball hook uses a sweeping arm motion with a follow-through ending over the head. en.wikipedia.org
    • The cricket and basketball hooks are deliberate shots. en.wikipedia.org
    • A right-handed golfer's hook curves left. en.wikipedia.org
    • A golf hook is often unintended, but golfers can also play it deliberately. about-golf.org

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of hook apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

From Middle English hoke, from Old English hōc, going back through Proto-West Germanic *hōk and Proto-Germanic *hōkaz, and probably ultimately from a Proto-Indo-European root *kog-/*keg- meaning "peg, hook, claw." It is related to Dutch haak ("hook") and West Frisian heak.

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

  • Hook descends through Middle English hoke, Old English hōc, Proto-West Germanic *hōk and Proto-Germanic *hōkaz. en.wiktionary.org
  • The proposed ultimate origin is a Proto-Indo-European root *kog-/*keg- meaning peg, hook or claw. en.wiktionary.org
  • Hook is related to Dutch haak and West Frisian heak. en.wiktionary.org
  • Dutch haak means hook. en.wiktionary.org