hook

[[t]h'ʊk[/t]]

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hooks, hooking, hooked

1) N-COUNT A hook is a bent piece of metal or plastic that is used for catching or holding things, or for hanging things up.

One of his jackets hung from a hook.

...curtain hooks...

He felt a fish pull at his hook.

2) V-ERG If you hook one thing to another, you attach it there using a hook. If something hooks somewhere, it can be hooked there.

[V n to/onto n] Paul hooked his tractor to the car and pulled it to safety.

[V onto n] ...one of those can openers that hooked onto the wall. [Also V n prep, V prep]

3) VERB If you hook your arm, leg, or foot round an object, you place it like a hook round the object in order to move it or hold it.

[V n prep] She latched on to his arm, hooking her other arm around a tree...

[V n prep] I hooked my left arm over the side of the dinghy.

4) VERB If you hook a fish, you catch it with a hook on the end of a line.

[V n] At the first cast I hooked a huge fish, probably a tench.

5) N-COUNT: usu adj N A hook is a short sharp blow with your fist that you make with your elbow bent, usually in a boxing match.

Lewis desperately needs to keep clear of Ruddock's big left hook.

6) V-ERG If you are hooked into something, or hook into something, you get involved with it. [mainly AM]

[be/get V-ed into n] I'm guessing again now because I'm not hooked into the political circles...

[V into n] Eager to hook into a career but can't find one right for you?

7) VERB If you hook into the Internet, you make a connection with the Internet on a particular occasion so that you can use it.

[V into n] ...an interactive media tent where people will be able to hook into the internet.

PHRASAL VERB

Hook up means the same as hook.

V P to n ...a UK firm that lets Britons hook up to the Internet.

8) PHRASE: V inflects If someone gets off the hook or is let off the hook, they manage to get out of the awkward or unpleasant situation that they are in. [INFORMAL]

Government officials accused of bribery and corruption get off the hook with monotonous regularity...

His opponents have no intention of letting him off the hook until he agrees to leave office immediately.

9) PHRASE: PHR after v If you take a phone off the hook, you take the receiver off the part that it normally rests on, so that the phone will not ring.

10) PHRASE: V inflects If your phone is ringing off the hook, so many people are trying to telephone you that it is ringing constantly. [AM]

Since war broke out, the phones at donation centers have been ringing off the hook.

11) by hook or by crook → see crook

hook, line, and sinker → see sinker

Phrasal Verbs:

- hook up