1. [n]  a basketball shot made over the head with the hand that is farther from the basket
2. [n]  a short swinging punch delivered from the side with the elbow bent
3. [n]  a golf shot that curves to the left for a right-handed golfer; "he tooks lessons to cure his hooking"
4. [n]  a curved or bent implement for suspending or pulling something
5. [n]  a mechanical device that is curved or bent to suspend or hold or pull something
6. [n]  a catch for locking a door
7. [n]  anything that serves as an enticement
8. [n]  a sharp curve or crook; a shape resembling a hook
9. [v]  entice and trap; "The car salesman had snared three potential customers"
10. [v]  to cause (someone or oneself) to become dependent (on something, esp. a narcotic drug)
11. [v]  fasten with a hook
12. [v]  catch with a hook; "hook a fish"
13. [v]  hit with a hook; in boxing; "His opponent hooked him badly"
14. [v]  in golf: hit a ball and put a spin on it so that it travels to the left
15. [v]  interlock
16. [v]  make off with belongings of others
17. [v]  rip off; ask an unreasonable price
18. [v]  take by theft; "Someone snitched my wallet!"

1. \Hook\, n. [OE. hok, AS. h[=o]c; cf. D. haak, G. hake,
   haken, OHG. h[=a]ko, h[=a]go, h[=a]ggo, 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.
   
   2. That part of a hinge which is fixed to a post, and on
      which a door or gate hangs and turns.
   
   3. An implement for cutting grass or grain; a sickle; an
      instrument for cutting or lopping; a billhook.
   
            Like slashing Bentley with his desperate hook.
                                                  --Pope.
   
   4. (Steam Engin.) See {Eccentric}, and {V-hook}.
   
   5. A snare; a trap. [R.] --Shak.
   
   6. A field sown two years in succession. [Prov. Eng.]
   
   7. pl. The projecting points of the thigh bones of cattle; --
      called also {hook bones}.
   
   {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 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} (Zo["o]l.), 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.
   
   

2. \Hook\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Hooked}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Hooking}.]
   1. To catch or fasten with a hook or hooks; to seize,
      capture, or hold, as with a hook, esp. with a disguised or
      baited hook; hence, to secure by allurement or artifice;
      to entrap; to catch; as, to hook a dress; to hook a trout.
   
            Hook him, my poor dear, . . . at any sacrifice. --W.
                                                  Collins.
   
   2. To seize or pierce with the points of the horns, as cattle
      in attacking enemies; to gore.
   
   3. To steal. [Colloq. Eng. & U.S.]
   
   {To hook on}, to fasten or attach by, or as by, hook.
   
   

3. \Hook\, v. i.
   To bend; to curve as a hook.
   
   

4. \Hook\, v. i.
   To move or go with a sudden turn; hence [Slang or Prov.
   Eng.], to make off; to clear out; -- often with it. ``Duncan
   was wounded, and the escort hooked it.'' --Kipling.
   
   

1. ? Object Oriented Kernel. Delphia. An object-oriented extension of Delphia Prolog.

   [jargon file]

2. A software or hardware feature included in order to simplify later additions or changes by a user.

   For example, a simple program that prints numbers might always print them in base 10, but a more flexible version would let a variable determine what base to use; setting the variable to 5 would make the program print numbers in base 5. The variable is a simple hook. An even more flexible program might examine the variable and treat a value of 16 or less as the base to use, but treat any other number as the address of a user-supplied routine for printing a number. This is a hairy but powerful hook; one can then write a routine to print numbers as Roman numerals, say, or as Hebrew characters, and plug it into the program through the hook.

   Often the difference between a good program and a superb one is that the latter has useful hooks in judiciously chosen places. Both may do the original job about equally well, but the one with the hooks is much more flexible for future expansion of capabilities.

   emacs, for example, is *all* hooks.

   The term "user exit" is synonymous but much more formal and less hackish.

(1.) Heb. hah, a "ring" inserted in the nostrils of animals to which a cord was fastened for the purpose of restraining them (2 Kings 19:28; Isa. 37:28, 29; Ezek. 29:4; 38:4). "The Orientals make use of this contrivance for curbing their work-beasts...When a beast becomes unruly they have only to draw the cord on one side, which, by stopping his breath, punishes him so effectually that after a few repetitions he fails not to become quite tractable whenever he begins to feel it" (Michaelis). So God's agents are never beyond his control.

(2.) Hakkah, a fish "hook" (Job 41:2, Heb. Text, 40:25; Isa. 19:8; Hab. 1:15).

(3.) Vav, a "peg" on which the curtains of the tabernacle were hung (Ex. 26:32).

(4.) Tsinnah, a fish-hooks (Amos 4:2).

(5.) Mazleg, flesh-hooks (1 Sam. 2:13, 14), a kind of fork with three teeth for turning the sacrifices on the fire, etc.

(6.) Mazmeroth, pruning-hooks (Isa. 2:4; Joel 3:10).

(7.) 'Agmon (Job 41:2, Heb. Text 40:26), incorrectly rendered in the Authorized Version. Properly a rush-rope for binding animals, as in Revised Version margin.