crook

Noun · Verb

WordNet 3.0

Noun (3)

  1. someone who has committed a crime or has been legally convicted of a crimeSynonyms: criminalfelonoutlawmalefactor
  2. a circular segment of a curve“a bend in the road”“a crook in the path”Synonyms: bendtwistturn
  3. a long staff with one end being hook shapedSynonyms: shepherd's crook

Verb (1)

  1. bend or cause to bend“He crooked his index finger”“the road curved sharply”Synonyms: curve
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Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

crook \crook\ (kr[oo^]k), n. [OE. crok; akin to Icel. kr[=o]kr hook, bend, SW. krok, Dan. krog, OD. krooke; or cf. Gael. crocan crook, hook, W. crwca crooked. Cf. Crosier, Crotchet, Crutch, Encroach.]

1.A bend, turn, or curve; curvature; flexure. [1913 Webster]

Through lanes, and crooks, and darkness.— Phaer.[1913 Webster]

2.Any implement having a bent or crooked end. Especially: (a) The staff used by a shepherd, the hook of which serves to hold a runaway sheep. (b) A bishop's staff of office. Cf. Pastoral staff. [1913 Webster]

He left his crook, he left his flocks.— Prior.[1913 Webster]

3.A pothook. "As black as the crook." --Sir W. Scott. [1913 Webster]

4.An artifice; trick; tricky device; subterfuge. [1913 Webster]

For all yuor brags, hooks, and crooks.— Cranmer.[1913 Webster]

5.(Mus.) A small tube, usually curved, applied to a trumpet, horn, etc., to change its pitch or key. [1913 Webster]

6.A person given to fraudulent practices; an accomplice of thieves, forgers, etc. [Cant, U.S.] [1913 Webster]

By hook or by crook, in some way or other; by fair means or foul. [1913 Webster]


Crook \Crook\ (kr??k), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Crooked (kr??kt); p. pr. & vb. n. Crooking.] [OE. croken; cf. Sw. kr?ka, Dan. kr?ge. See Crook, n.]

1.To turn from a straight line; to bend; to curve. [1913 Webster]

Crook the pregnant hinges of the knee.— Shak.[1913 Webster]

2.To turn from the path of rectitude; to pervert; to misapply; to twist. [Archaic] [1913 Webster]

There is no one thing that crooks youth more than such unlawfull games.— Ascham.[1913 Webster]
What soever affairs pass such a man's hands, he crooketh them to his own ends.— Bacon.[1913 Webster]

Crook \Crook\, v. i. To bend; to curve; to wind; to have a curvature. " The port . . . crooketh like a bow." --Phaer. [1913 Webster]

Their shoes and pattens are snouted, and piked more than a finger long, crooking upwards. --Camden. [1913 Webster]

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