crook en · NOUN · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- /kɹuːk/ (obsolete)
- [kɹ̠̊˔ʷʊk] (Australia, General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
- /kɹʊk/ (Australia, General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
- (Australia) audio
- /kɻʉk/ (Northern-Ireland)
- [kɹ̠̊˔ʷʊk] ~ [kɹ̠̊˔ʷɵk] ~ [kɹ̠̊˔ʷɨ̞k] (New-Zealand)
- /kɹʊk/ (New-Zealand)
- /kɹɵk/ (British, Southern, Standard)
- /kɾʊk/ (Wales)
- [kɹ̠̊˔ʷɵk] ~ [kɹ̠̊˔ʷɘk] (British, Southern, Standard)
- /kɾʉk/ (Scotland)
Etymology
From Middle English croke, crok, from Old English *crōc (“hook, bend, crook”), from Proto-West Germanic *krōk, from Proto-Germanic *krōkaz (“bend, hook”), from Proto-Indo-European *greg- (“tracery, basket, bend”). Cognate with Dutch kreuk (“a bend, fold, wrinkle”), Middle Low German kroke, krake (“fold, wrinkle”), Danish krog (“crook, hook”), Swedish krok (“crook, hook”), Icelandic krókur (“hook”). Compare typologically Czech křivák (< křivý < Proto-Slavic *krivъ, whence also *krivьda).
Meanings
-
A bend; turn; curve; curvature; a flexure.
he walks bye lanes, and crooks
1842, William Edward Hoskins, De Valencourt:She held the baby in the crook of her arm.
- A bending of the knee; a genuflection.
-
A bent or curved part; a curving piece or portion (of anything).
It was flood-tide along Fifth Avenue; motor, brougham, and victoria swept by on the glittering current; pretty women glanced out from limousine and tonneau; young men of his own type, silk-hatted, frock-coated, the crooks of their walking sticks tucked up under their left arms, passed on the Park side.
1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “His Own People”, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC, page 6:the crook of a cane
-
A person who steals, lies, cheats, or does other dishonest or illegal things; a criminal; a scoundrel, scofflaw, lawbreaker, rogue, or miscreant.
In these early days of silent pictures, the accent was chiefly on thrills and danger as provided by supposedly unstoppable locomotives with crooks or maniacs on the footplate.
1958 February 14, David Gunston, “Railways on the Screen”, in Railway Magazine, page 88:1973 November 17, Richard Nixon, reported 1973 November 18, The Washington Post, Nixon Tells Editors, ‘I'm Not a Crook’, "People have got to know whether or not their President is a crook. Well, I′m not a crook. I′ve earned everything I′ve got."
- (obsolete) A lock or curl of hair.
- (obsolete) A support beam consisting of a post with a cross-beam resting upon it; a bracket or truss consisting of a vertical piece, a horizontal piece, and a strut.
-
A specialized staff with a semi-circular bend (a "hook") at one end used by shepherds to control their herds.
Even though I walk through a / valley dark as death / I fear no evil, for thou art with me, / thy staff and thy crook are my / comfort.
1970, The New English Bible with the Apocrypha, Oxford Study Edition, published 1976, Oxford University Press, Psalms 23-4, p.583
- A bishop's standard staff of office.
-
An artifice; a trick; a contrivance.
for all your brags, hooks, and crooks
c. 1547, Thomas Cranmer, Against Transubstantiation:
- A pothook.
- A small tube, usually curved, applied to a trumpet, horn, etc., to change its pitch or key.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| crooks | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
throw-crook · crook of the arm · crookback · by hook or crook · arm in crook · crookle · crook in the lot · acrook · cruckle · crookery · by hook or by crook · cybercrook · Crook of Devon · crookbacked · crookneck · pool at the crook · apple crook · crookbill · on the crook
Synonyms
criminal (criminal)
Translations (108)
bg кра́дец (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · es doblez (a bend) · mk ге́га (specialized staff used by shepherds) · ru по́сох (specialized staff used by shepherds) · ga bithiúnach (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · it ladro (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · fi rikollinen (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · es torcedura (a bend) · nl afzetster (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · mk кри́вина (a bend) · ga bachall (specialized staff used by shepherds) · ko 오금 (a bend) · nl oplichtster (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · eo fikomercisto (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · ga camóg (specialized staff used by shepherds) · id maling (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · grc καλαῦροψ (specialized staff used by shepherds) · es ratera (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · is glæpamaður (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · pt cajado (specialized staff used by shepherds) · es truhana (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · nl bedriegster (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · ru плут (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · pt ladra (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · cs podvodník (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · cs podrazák (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · ota چوبان دكنكی (specialized staff used by shepherds) · sv herdestav (specialized staff used by shepherds) · de Ganove (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · nl oplichter (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · id bajingan (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · pt ladrão (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · es maleante (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · ga crúca (specialized staff used by shepherds) · mk кра́дец (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · is hirðingjastafur (specialized staff used by shepherds) · bg извивка (a bend) · cs záhyb (a bend) · de Hirtenstab (specialized staff used by shepherds) · gd bachall (specialized staff used by shepherds) · pdt Vebräakja (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · el γκλίτσα (specialized staff used by shepherds) · sl lopov (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · nl bedrieger (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · sh ло́пов (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · de Krücke (specialized staff used by shepherds) · it pastorale (specialized staff used by shepherds) · es truhán (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · de Krückstock (specialized staff used by shepherds) · es corvedura (a bend) · es ladrona (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · is þorpari (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · pt curva (a bend) · it furfante (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · fi taive (a bend) · cs křivák (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · es ratero (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · sv skurk (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · az fırıldaqçı (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · fi konna (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · fr escroc (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · gl caxato (specialized staff used by shepherds) · es ladrón (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · nl afzetter (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · cs darebák (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · sh lópov (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · el απατεώνας (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · pt gancho (a bend) · mk кри́вак (specialized staff used by shepherds) · la agolum (specialized staff used by shepherds) · scn croccu (specialized staff used by shepherds) · fr houlette (specialized staff used by shepherds) · la pedum (specialized staff used by shepherds) · ko 크루 (specialized staff used by shepherds) · fr courbe (a bend) · ga caimín (specialized staff used by shepherds) · es curvidad (a bend) · nb skurk (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · de Gauner (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · ru жу́лик (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · it vincastro (specialized staff used by shepherds) · nl herdersstaf (specialized staff used by shepherds) · ja 詐欺師 (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · ka კაუჭი (specialized staff used by shepherds) · it truffatore (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · az aferist (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · fr arnaqueur (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · yi זשוליק (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · es cayado (specialized staff used by shepherds) · ka კავი (specialized staff used by shepherds) · bg гега (specialized staff used by shepherds) · fi käyräsauva (specialized staff used by shepherds) · es curva (a bend) · eo fripono (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · nl zwendelaarster (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · mk кр́лук (specialized staff used by shepherds) · ru моше́нник (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · ru изги́б (a bend) · de Krummstab (specialized staff used by shepherds) · cmn 騙子 /骗子 (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · cs ohyb (a bend) · cs ohbí (a bend) · cs pastýřská hůl (specialized staff used by shepherds) · ru вор (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · nl zwendelaar (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · az julik (a criminal who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things) · grc χαῖος (specialized staff used by shepherds) · scn vastuni (specialized staff used by shepherds)