off the hook
- 1Free from a duty, or no longer in trouble for something.
Like a fish that gets free from a fishing line and swims away.
The teacher let us off the hook for turning in the project late.
Once she found the real culprit, I was off the hook.
Similarfree, exonerated
Oppositeaccountable, liable
Note
- 2When a phone is not hung up, so the line stays open and no new calls come through.
My grandfather takes the phone off the hook every afternoon so he can nap.
The receiver was off the hook all night, so every caller got a busy signal.
Note
- 3When a phone rings again and again because so many people are calling.
Like a doorbell that keeps ringing because guests keep arriving.
After the news report aired, the phones were ringing off the hook all morning.
Once tickets went on sale, our hotline was ringing off the hook.
Note
- 4
- 5Playing a sport or game extremely well.
Like a player who suddenly cannot miss, scoring again and again.
Our goalkeeper was off the hook in the final, stopping every shot.
She played off the hook all season and led the team in points.
Similarunstoppable, brilliant, phenomenal
Note
Practice
Can you tell the meanings of off the hook apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.
Origins
It compares someone to a fish that has gotten off the hook of a fishing line.
It comes from old candlestick phones, where you hung up by putting the receiver on a hook. Leaving it off the hook stopped calls from coming in.