# hook

> English word · Noun · IPA /hʊk/ · frequency rank #3,816

## Definitions
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. A barbed metal hook used for fishing; a fishhook.
3. Any of various hook-shaped agricultural implements such as a billhook.
4. The curved needle used in the art of crochet.
5. The part of a hinge which is fixed to a post, and on which a door or gate hangs and turns.
6. A loop shaped like a hook under certain written letters, for example, g and j.
7. A tie-in to a current event or trend that makes a news story or editorial relevant and timely.
8. A snare; a trap.
9. An advantageous hold.
10. The projecting points of the thighbones of cattle; called also hook bones.
11. Removal or expulsion from a group or activity.
12. A field sown two years in succession.
13. A grasp (of), an attachment (to).
14. 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.
15. 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.
16. A finesse.
17. A jack (the playing card).
18. A sharp bend or angle in the course or length of an object (e.g. a bend in a river, etc.).
19. A spit or narrow cape of sand or gravel turned landward at the outer end, such as Sandy Hook in New Jersey.
20. A catchy musical phrase which forms the basis of a popular song.
21. A ship's anchor.
22. Part of a system's operation that can be intercepted to change or augment its behaviour.
23. 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.
24. A diacritical mark shaped like the upper part of a question mark, as in ỏ.
25. A háček.
26. Senses relating to sports.
27. Senses relating to sports.
28. Senses relating to sports.
29. Senses relating to sports.
30. Senses relating to sports.
31. Senses relating to sports.
32. Senses relating to sports.
33. Any of the chevrons denoting rank.
34. A prostitute.
35. A pickpocket.
36. Synonym of shoulder (“the part of a wave that has not yet broken”).
37. 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.

## Etymology
From Middle English hoke, from Old English hōc (“angle, point, hook”), 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
Cognate with Scots huke, huik (“hook”), West Frisian and Dutch hoek (“hook, angle, corner”), Low German Hook, Huuk, German Hook (“small cluster of farms”), Faroese høkja (“crutch”), Icelandic hækja (“crutch”), Norn hek (“crutch”), Finnish kuokka (“hoe, mattock”). Related to hake.

## Easily confused with
- **how** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hook-vs-how)
- **hot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hook-vs-hot)
- **hop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hook-vs-hop)
- **Hou** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hook-vs-hou)
- **hoy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hook-vs-hoy)
- **hos** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hook-vs-hos)
- **hor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hook-vs-hor)
- **HOV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hook-vs-hov)
- **hope** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hook-vs-hope)
- **hour** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hook-vs-hour)
- **host** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hook-vs-host)
- **horn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hook-vs-horn)
- **hose** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hook-vs-hose)
- **hulk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hook-vs-hulk)
- **Howe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hook-vs-howe)
- **hoop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hook-vs-hoop)
- **howl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hook-vs-howl)
- **hunk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hook-vs-hunk)
- **hove** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hook-vs-hove)
- **hoon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/hook-vs-hoon)

## Common misspellings (5)
`hhook`, `hok`, `hoko`, `hookk`, `ohok`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/hook