1. A piece of iron or other metal bent into a curve for catching, holding and sustaining any thing; as a hook for catching fish; a teeter-hook; a chimney-hook; a pot-hook, _c.

2. A snare; a trap.

3. A curving instrument for cutting grass or grain; a sickle; an instrument for cutting or lopping.

4. That part of a hinge which is fixed or inserted in a post. Whence the phrase, to be off the hooks, to be unhinged, to be disturbed or disordered.

5. A forked timber in a ship, placed on the keel.

6. A catch; an advantage.

By hook and by crook, one way or other; by any means, direct or indirect.

, v.i. To bend; to be curving.