hook

n. [ OE. hok, AS. hōc; cf. D. haak, G. hake, haken, OHG. hāko, hāgo, hāggo, Icel. haki, Sw. hake, Dan. hage. Cf. Arquebuse, Hagbut, Hake, Hatch a half door, Heckle. ] 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. That part of a hinge which is fixed to a post, and on which a door or gate hangs and turns. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. An implement for cutting grass or grain; a sickle; an instrument for cutting or lopping; a billhook. [ 1913 Webster ]

Like slashing Bentley with his desperate hook. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Steam Engin.) See Eccentric, and V-hook. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A snare; a trap. [ R. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. A field sown two years in succession. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

7. pl. The projecting points of the thigh bones of cattle; -- called also hook bones. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. (Geog.) A spit or narrow cape of sand or gravel turned landward at the outer end; as, Sandy Hook in New Jersey. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC ]

9. (Sports) 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. [ PJC ]

10. (Computers) 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. [ PJC ]

By hook or by crook, one way or other; by any means, direct or indirect. Milton. “In hope her to attain by hook or crook.” Spenser. --
Off the hook, freed from some obligation or difficulty; as, to get off the hook by getting someone else to do the job. [ Colloq. ] --
Off the hooks, unhinged; disturbed; disordered. [ Colloq. ] “In the evening, by water, to the Duke of Albemarle, whom I found mightly off the hooks that the ships are not gone out of the river.” Pepys. --
On one's own hook, on one's own account or responsibility; by one's self. [ Colloq. U.S. ] Bartlett. --
To go off the hooks, to die. [ Colloq. ] Thackeray. --
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 (Zool.), 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 (Steam Engin.), 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. [ 1913 Webster ]