What does "hook" mean?
A rod bent into a curved shape, typically with one end free and the other end secured to a rope or other attachment.
Hook
/hʊk/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A rod bent into a curved shape, typically with one end free and the other end secured to a rope or other attachment.
- Grammar: hook is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: abstract, abstract, accost, acquitted.
- Useful contrasts: bore, closing line, detach.
- Usage evidence: I got several bites, but could not hook a fish.
How to use "hook"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "hook" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "hook" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "hook" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "hook" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "hook" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "abstract" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "hook", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
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 Alternative form of Hoek (“member of Dutch faction”) alt-of, alternative
- 3 a basketball shot made over the head with the hand that is farther from the basket wordnet
- 4 A barbed metal hook used for fishing; a fishhook.
- 5 a short swinging punch delivered from the side with the elbow bent wordnet
Show 41 more definitions
- 6 Any of various hook-shaped agricultural implements such as a billhook.
"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: [...]"
- 7 a golf shot that curves to the left for a right-handed golfer wordnet
- 8 The curved needle used in the art of crochet.
- 9 a curved or bent implement for suspending or pulling something wordnet
- 10 The part of a hinge which is fixed to a post, and on which a door or gate hangs and turns.
- 11 a mechanical device that is curved or bent to suspend or hold or pull something wordnet
- 12 A loop shaped like a hook under certain written letters, for example, g and j.
- 13 a catch for locking a door wordnet
- 14 A tie-in to a current event or trend that makes a news story or editorial relevant and timely.
- 15 anything that serves as an enticement wordnet
- 16 A snare; a trap.
"A shop of all the qualities, that man Loues woman for, besides that hooke of Wiuing,"
- 17 a sharp curve or crook; a shape resembling a hook wordnet
- 18 An advantageous hold.
"“What makes you so sure that nobody knows you've got a hook into him?” Ward asked."
- 19 The projecting points of the thighbones of cattle; called also hook bones. in-plural
- 20 Removal or expulsion from a group or activity. informal
"He is not handling this job, so we're giving him the hook."
- 21 A field sown two years in succession.
- 22 A grasp (of), an attachment (to). informal
"Much of the Two in Twenty humor is insider stuff; this soap is clearly made for lesbians who have been around the city block, with a few road trips to Michigan. Gay men may love it as well, and others with a hook into contemporary urban dyke life."
- 23 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.
- 24 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."
- 25 A finesse. slang
- 26 A jack (the playing card). slang
- 27 A sharp bend or angle in the course or length of an object (e.g. a bend in a river, etc.).
- 28 A spit or narrow cape of sand or gravel turned landward at the outer end, such as Sandy Hook in New Jersey.
- 29 A catchy musical phrase which forms the basis of a popular song.
"The song's hook snared me."
- 30 A ship's anchor. informal
- 31 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."
- 32 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."
- 33 A diacritical mark shaped like the upper part of a question mark, as in ỏ.
- 34 A háček. rare
"Common diacritics in Slavonic language are the hook ˇ (as in haček – Czech for ‘hook’) and the stroke ´ (robić – Polish for ‘do/make’)."
- 35 Senses relating to sports.; A curveball.
"He threw a hook in the dirt."
- 36 Senses relating to sports.; 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.
- 37 Senses relating to sports.; 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."
- 38 Senses relating to sports.; 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."
- 39 Senses relating to sports.; 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.
- 40 Senses relating to sports.; A golf shot that (for the right-handed player) curves unintentionally to the left. (See draw, slice, fade.)
- 41 Senses relating to sports.; The amount of spin placed on a bowling ball.
- 42 Any of the chevrons denoting rank. Australia, Canada
- 43 A prostitute. slang
"I was talkin' to a couple of the 'hooks' (female prostitutes) I know."
- 44 A pickpocket. UK, obsolete, slang
"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."
- 45 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."
- 46 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. historical
Verb
- 1 To attach a hook to. transitive
"Hook the bag here, and the conveyor will carry it away."
- 2 approach with an offer of sexual favors wordnet
- 3 To become attached, as by a hook. intransitive
"The utensil holder hooks onto the side of the dishrack."
- 4 entice and trap wordnet
- 5 To catch with a hook (hook a fish). transitive
"He hooked a snake accidentally, and was so scared he dropped his rod into the water."
Show 27 more definitions
- 6 secure with the foot wordnet
- 7 To work yarn into a fabric using a hook; to crochet. transitive
"No one seems to want anything but hooked mats now."
- 8 to cause (someone or oneself) to become dependent (on something, especially a narcotic drug) wordnet
- 9 To insert in a curved way reminiscent of a hook. transitive
"He hooked his fingers through his belt loops."
- 10 fasten with a hook wordnet
- 11 To ensnare or obligate someone, as if with a hook. transitive
"She's only here to try to hook a husband."
- 12 catch with a hook wordnet
- 13 To steal. UK, US, archaic, slang
- 14 hit with a hook wordnet
- 15 To connect (hook into, hook together). transitive
"If you hook your network cable into the jack, you'll be on the network."
- 16 hit a ball and put a spin on it so that it travels to the left wordnet
- 17 To make addicted; to captivate.
"He had gotten hooked on cigarettes in his youth."
- 18 make a piece of needlework by interlocking and looping thread with a hooked needle wordnet
- 19 To acquire as a spouse.
"People talk about so and so getting married and they always comment about the class or potential class status of the person this woman had "hooked." You know, "He comes from a working class background but he's studying to be a lawyer and she's going to be all set.""
- 20 make off with belongings of others wordnet
- 21 To play a hook shot.
""Hey, Sara! Watch this hook shot!" he shouted as he hooked the ball right through the net—swish!"
- 22 rip off; ask an unreasonable price wordnet
- 23 To succeed in heeling the ball back out of a scrum (used particularly of the team's designated hooker).
- 24 take by theft wordnet
- 25 To use 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."
- 26 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."
- 27 To engage in prostitution. intransitive, slang
"I had a cheap flat in the bad part of town, and I could watch the working girls hooking from my bedroom window."
- 28 To play a word perpendicular to another word by adding a single letter to the existing word.
- 29 To finesse. slang
- 30 To seize or pierce with the points of the horns, as cattle in attacking enemies; to gore. transitive
- 31 To bend; to be curved. intransitive
"10 mins later, at the point where the road hooks sharp to the left, continue straight on through the wood along a mule track […]"
- 32 To move or go with a sudden turn. intransitive
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname. countable, uncountable
- 2 A number of places in the United Kingdom:; A hamlet in Wimblington parish, Fenland district, Cambridgeshire (OS grid ref TF4293). countable, uncountable
- 3 A number of places in the United Kingdom:; A hamlet in Chardstock parish, East Devon district, Devon, England (OS grid ref ST3005). countable, uncountable
- 4 A number of places in the United Kingdom:; A village and civil parish near Goole, East Riding of Yorkshire, England (OS grid ref SE7625). countable, uncountable
- 5 A number of places in the United Kingdom:; A suburb in the borough of Kingston upon Thames, Greater London, England (OS grid ref TQ1865). countable, uncountable
Show 6 more definitions
- 6 A number of places in the United Kingdom:; A large village and civil parish in Hart district, Hampshire, England (OS grid ref SU7254). countable, uncountable
- 7 A number of places in the United Kingdom:; A hamlet in Fareham borough, Hampshire, England (OS grid ref SU5005). countable, uncountable
- 8 A number of places in the United Kingdom:; A hamlet in Timsbury parish, Bath and North East Somerset district, Somerset (OS grid ref ST6758). countable, uncountable
- 9 A number of places in the United Kingdom:; A village in Lydiard Tregoze parish, near Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire, England (OS grid ref SU0784). countable, uncountable
- 10 A number of places in the United Kingdom:; A village and community in Pembrokeshire, Wales (OS grid ref SM9711). countable, uncountable
- 11 A rural locality in South Canterbury, Canterbury, New Zealand, on the Hook River. countable, uncountable
Antonyms
Example
"I got several bites, but could not hook a fish."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "hook"?
Common synonyms include: abstract, abstract, accost, acquitted, addict, addicts.
How do you use "hook" in a sentence?
I got several bites, but could not hook a fish.
How do you pronounce "hook"?
Pronounced /hʊk/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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.
Etymology 2
* As an English surname, from the noun hook. * As a Swedish surname, from hök (“hawk”). * As a Dutch surname, Americanized from Hoek; compare Vanhook.