🪝 To attach 🪝 A curved device 🎣 To attract 🎣 An attraction 🥊 A side punch 💊 To addict 💃 To sell sex 🥊 To punch sideways 💻 A callback ➰ A curved shape 🏀 A curved shot 🦹 To steal ⛳ To curve ⛳ A curved shot 💸 To overcharge 🧶 To crochet

to hook

7 9.2

To offer sexual services to someone in public for money

verb
/hʊk/

NSFW

: captar clientes

Many young people go out to hook up at parties on the weekends.

Examples

Well, okay, so we hooked up and she gave me a couple of hand jobs.

American Pie Presents: Beta House (2007)
Brooke says she wants to hook up with girls now.
Well, you know, we have a natural inclination to hook up, as people say, have sex.
It's a sign that you should stop hooking up with random guys from bars.

Blog text (3)
People get HIV and STDs from hooking up in their own homes all the time.

Blog text (11)
When my girlfriend and I broke up, I ended up hooking up with a hotter chick.

Blog text (20)
She approached him in the bar to hook up with her for the night.
They often hook up with strangers on dating apps without serious intentions.

Synonyms

to hook up

vsto hook

NSFW

283 8.7

To meet someone for a brief romantic or sexual encounter

focuses on offering sexual services for pay rather than casual mutual encounters

to pick up

vsto hook

NSFW

45 8.2

To meet someone to start a romantic or sexual relationship

involves offering sexual services rather than merely starting a personal encounter

to accost

vsto hook

24 8.0

Go up to someone and speak to them in a bold or aggressive way

involves offering sexual services specifically rather than bold or aggressive general approaches

to solicit

vsto hook

NSFW

15 8.7

To offer sexual services to someone, often in a public place

is specifically about offering paid sexual services rather than general advances

Idioms

off the hook

Informal

117 5.9

No longer in trouble or responsible for something

off the hook

Slang

28 8.2

Very exciting and impressive

on the hook

Informal

25 7.7

Responsible for paying or doing something, often unwillingly

by hook or by crook

Informal

2 8.1

Using any way to get something done no matter what it takes

to take your hook

Archaic

9.9

Leave a place quickly because you are not welcome

to sling one's hook

Archaic

9.9

To leave quickly because people do not want you there

Phrasal Verbs

to hook up

NSFW

283 8.7

To meet someone for a brief romantic or sexual encounter

to hook up

130 3.7

To connect devices so they work together

to let off the hook

Informal

52 4.1

To free someone from blame or punishment

to hook it to the mainframe

Specialized

7.4

To connect a device to a main computer so it can send and receive data

Compounds

grappling hook

9 5.7

A set of hooks on a rope used to catch and hold things like a wall or ship

meat hook

8 4.8

A strong pointed hook for hanging dead animals in a butcher shop

hook-nosed

3 8.0

A person with a long curved nose like a bird's beak

hook shot

Specialized

1 3.6

A basketball shot made by sweeping the arm and releasing the ball high with the hand farthest from the basket

catchy hook

1 3.2

A short easy to remember musical phrase that repeats in a song

crochet hook

1 3.2

A needle with a small hook at one end used to pull yarn through loops to make fabric

hook and eye

1 3.6

A small metal piece with a hook that fits into a loop to hold clothes closed

pruning hook

1 7.2

A tool with a long handle and a curved blade used to cut small tree branches and shrubs

cant hook

Specialized

1 9.8

A long handle with a metal hook used to move and turn logs

boat hook

1 3.9

A long pole with a hook used to push, pull, or catch things near boats

cup hook

1 3.5

A small metal hook that you screw under a shelf to hang cups by the handles

catchy hook

1 3.5

An opening line or idea that quickly gets people's attention

reaping hook

Archaic

1 8.3

A small hand tool with a curved blade and short handle for cutting wheat and grass

fire hook

1 7.7

A metal rod with a handle used to move burning logs or stir hot embers

bench hook

1 8.8

A wooden block attached to a bench that holds wood steady while you cut or shape it

bolus hook

Specialized

9.9

A small part in a Jacquard loom that lifts warp threads to make patterns

dog hook

9.9

A strong metal bar with a sharp point that you use to move logs

ear hook earring

6.3

An earring that fits over the edge of the ear without needing a piercing

arrester hook

Specialized

9.9

A device on a plane that catches a wire on a carrier deck to stop the plane quickly during landing

Hook of Holland

6.1

A cape and town on the southwest coast of the Netherlands that has a ferry port

hook spanner

7.6

A tool with a hooked end that turns round nuts with notches

hook wrench

Specialized

6.4

A tool with a hooked end for turning round nuts or bolt heads without flat sides

reap hook

9.8

A hand tool with a curved blade and short handle for cutting grass or crops

Surface Forms

hook infinitive

hooked past

hooked past participle

hooking present participle

hooks third person singular

Etymology

A helpful way to remember hook meaning to offer sexual services is to think of the idea of 'trying to catch' clients like a hook catches fish, so the verb came to mean seeking customers.