off the hook


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hook

 (ho͝ok)
n.
1.
a. A curved or sharply bent device, usually of metal, used to catch, drag, suspend, or fasten something else.
b. A fishhook.
2. Something shaped like a hook, especially:
a. A curved or barbed plant or animal part.
b. A short angled or curved line on a letter.
c. A sickle.
3.
a. A sharp bend or curve, as in a river.
b. A point or spit of land with a sharply curved end.
4. A means of catching or ensnaring; a trap.
5. Slang
a. A means of attracting interest or attention; an enticement: a sales hook.
b. Music A catchy motif or refrain: "sugary hard rock melodies [and] ear candy hooks" (Boston Globe).
6. Sports
a. A short swinging blow in boxing delivered with a crooked arm.
b. The course of a ball that curves in a direction away from the dominant hand of the player propelling it, as to the left of a right-handed player.
c. A stroke that sends a ball on such a course.
d. A ball propelled on such a course.
e. In surfing, the lip of a breaking wave.
7. Baseball A curve ball.
8. Basketball A hook shot.
v. hooked, hook·ing, hooks
v.tr.
1.
a. To catch, suspend, or connect with a hook.
b. Informal To snare.
c. Slang To steal; snatch.
2. To fasten by a hook.
3. To pierce or gore with a hook.
4. Slang
a. To take strong hold of; captivate: a novel that hooked me on the very first page.
b. To cause to become addicted.
5. To make (a rug) by looping yarn through canvas with a type of hook.
6. Sports
a. To hit with a hook in boxing.
b. To hit (a golf ball) in a hook.
7. Baseball To pitch (a ball) with a curve.
8. Basketball To shoot (a ball) in a hook shot.
9. Sports To impede the progress of (an opponent in ice hockey) by holding or restraining the player with one's stick, in violation of the rules.
v.intr.
1. To bend like a hook.
2. To fasten by means of a hook or a hook and eye.
3. Slang To work as a prostitute.
Phrasal Verb:
hook up
1. To assemble or wire (a mechanism).
2. To connect a mechanism and a source of power.
3. Slang
a. To meet or associate: We agreed to hook up after class. He hooked up with the wrong crowd.
b. To become sexually involved with someone, especially casually.
c. To marry or get married.
Idioms:
by hook or by crook
By whatever means possible, fair or unfair.
get the hook Slang
To be unceremoniously dismissed or terminated.
hook, line, and sinker Informal
Without reservation; completely: swallowed the excuse hook, line, and sinker.
off the hook Informal
Freed, as from blame or a vexatious obligation: let me off the hook with a mild reprimand.
on (one's) own hook
By one's own efforts.

[Middle English hok, from Old English hōc; see keg- in Indo-European roots.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Adj.1.off the hook - freed from danger or blame or obligation; "I let him off the hook with a mild reprimand"
safe - free from danger or the risk of harm; "a safe trip"; "you will be safe here"; "a safe place"; "a safe bet"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations
يُحَرِّرُ من المُشكِلَه او من الإهتياج
z bryndy
af krogen
kimászik
losa úr klípu
z kaše
ferahlamakurtulma

hook

(huk) noun
1. a small piece of metal shaped like a J fixed at the end of a fishing-line used for catching fish etc. a fish-hook.
2. a bent piece of metal etc used for hanging coats, cups etc on, or a smaller one sewn on to a garment, for fastening it. Hang your jacket on that hook behind the door; hooks and eyes.
3. in boxing, a kind of punch with the elbow bent. a left hook.
verb
1. to catch (a fish etc) with a hook. He hooked a large salmon.
2. to fasten or to be fastened by a hook or hooks. He hooked the ladder on (to the branch); This bit hooks on to that bit; Could you hook my dress up down the back?
3. in golf, to hit (the ball) far to the left of where it should be (or to the right if one is left-handed).
hooked adjective
1. curved like a hook. a hooked nose.
2. (with on) slang for very interested in, or showing a great liking for; addicted to. He's hooked on modern art; He's hooked on marijuana.
by hook or by crook
by some means or another; in any way possible. I'll get her to marry me, by hook or by crook.
off the hook
free from some difficulty or problem. If he couldn't keep the terms of the contract, he shouldn't have signed it – I don't see how we can get him off the hook now.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
References in classic literature ?
Just at this time, however, a British force made its appearance off the Hook; and the port of New York was effectually blockaded.
The attack was so sharp that Matilda--as his Reverence expressed it--was very nearly "off the hooks"; all the family were in a fever of expectation regarding the will, and Rawdon Crawley was making sure of at least forty thousand pounds before the commencement of the London season.
My boy, I'm dead to them--off their books--a good deal deader than being off the hooks! Why, if I went to Scotland Yard this minute, to give myself up, they'd chuck me out for a harmless lunatic.
Kelso 2.25 Champagne City Newbury 3.15 Off The Hook
The LHC seems to have acknowledged this, but strangely enough only by letting Fawad Chauhdry off the hook and not Abbasi.
"Sister Fox is not yet off the hook. Ang napawalang bisa lang po ng DOJ [What the DOJ nullified] is the decision of the Commission on Immigration and Deportation which nullified her missionary visa.
Coleman said: "We have shown some good stuff to build on, but we have to stop letting teams off the hook.
BEIRUT: A passenger busted for smuggling over 100 new iPhones into Beirut was let off the hook after "some money was paid," a high-ranking airport source told The Daily Star Tuesday.
He said: "I think the fact Huddersfield did not win at Derby on Saturday let them off the hook a little bit.
"We did a lot of good things, but one little thing near the end let them off the hook.
We did a lot of good things but one little thing near the end let them off the hook.
Irish stand up Dylan brings his brand new show Off The Hook to the Boro for what will be a welcome return for comedy fans - the Perrier winning funny man wowed a packed Town Hall crowd on his last visit in 2009.