hook
part of speech
noun (a hook, hooks); verb (hook, hooks, hooked, hooking)
meaning for a pupil
1) A hook is a curved or bent piece of metal or plastic used to hang things on or to catch and hold things. tree →
2) A fishing hook is a small sharp curved piece of metal that catches fish. tree →
3) To hook something means to catch it, fasten it or hang it with a hook or a bent finger or arm. tree →
4) A hook in a story, song or advert is the part that catches your interest and makes you want more. tree →
5) In boxing a hook is a punch with a bent arm. tree →
6) Hooked can mean you really love something and cannot stop, like being hooked on a book. tree →
7) (a name) Hook is the pirate captain in «Peter Pan», who has a hook in place of one hand. tree →
sense in the lessons
Everyday: coat hooks at school, hooks in the kitchen, fishing, a picture hook. In writing lessons a «hook» is the opening sentence that grabs the reader. Safety: fishing hooks are sharp and have barbs, so they are hard to pull out of skin; adults should help. Phrases: «on the hook», «off the hook» (free from trouble, or a phone not hung up), «by hook or by crook» (any way at all), «hook up» (connect), «hooked on».
examples
- Hang your coat on your hook when you come in. tree →
- Grandpa put a worm on the hook and cast the line. tree →
- The phone was off the hook all day. tree →
- She hooked her bag over the back of the chair. tree →
- Start your story with a hook to grab the reader. tree →
- I got hooked on the series after the first book. tree →
- Captain Hook is the pirate in Peter Pan. tree →
- He hooked the fish and slowly reeled it in. tree →
- The teacher let us off the hook for the late homework. tree →
- Hook trod the deck in thought. tree →
note
Countable: «a hook, two hooks». «Off the hook» has two meanings (out of trouble; a phone receiver not on its stand). «Hooked on» something means you like it a lot, or in adult talk can mean addicted. The shape of the letter J is like a hook. A «hook and eye» is a tiny clothes fastener.
In the corpora
- The hook is the catchiest bit of a song, often in the chorus; writing a good hook takes real skill.
- Birds of prey, also called raptors, hunt other animals with sharp eyes, hooked beaks and gripping feet with curved talons.
- Long curved claws hook over branches, so a sloth can hang upside down for hours, even asleep, without tiring.
- A squirrel can run down a tree head first because its back ankles turn round so its claws hook into the bark facing up.
- All have a hooked beak and feet with two toes forward and two back.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «hook» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.