'Off the hook' definitions:
Definition of 'off the hook'
From: WordNet
adjective
Freed from danger or blame or obligation; "I let him off the hook with a mild reprimand"
Definition of 'Off the hook'
From: GCIDE
- Hook \Hook\ (h[oo^]k; 277), 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. [1913 Webster]
- 2. That part of a hinge which is fixed to a post, and on which a door or gate hangs and turns. [1913 Webster]
- 3. An implement for cutting grass or grain; a sickle; an instrument for cutting or lopping; a billhook. [1913 Webster]
- Like slashing Bentley with his desperate hook. --Pope. [1913 Webster]
- 4. (Steam Engin.) See Eccentric, and V-hook. [1913 Webster]
- 5. A snare; a trap. [R.] --Shak. [1913 Webster]
- 6. A field sown two years in succession. [Prov. Eng.] [1913 Webster]
- 7. pl. The projecting points of the thigh bones of cattle; -- called also hook bones. [1913 Webster]
- 8. (Geog.) A spit or narrow cape of sand or gravel turned landward at the outer end; as, Sandy Hook in New Jersey. [Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC]
- 9. (Sports) The curving motion of a ball, as in bowling or baseball, curving away from the hand which threw the ball; in golf, a curving motion in the direction of the golfer who struck the ball. [PJC]
- 10. (Computers) A procedure within the encoding of a computer program which allows the user to modify the program so as to import data from or export data to other programs. [PJC]
- 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 hook, freed from some obligation or difficulty; as, to get off the hook by getting someone else to do the job. [Colloq.]
- 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 (Zool.), 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. [1913 Webster]
Words containing 'Off the hook'
- Can hook,
- Hook,
- Hooked,
- Hooking,
- Hooks,
- Off the hooks,
- To hook on,
- hook on,
- hook up,
- hook up with,
- hooke,
- on the hook,
- Bid hook,
- Boat hook,
- Boot hook,
- Button hook,
- By hook or by crook,
- Cant hook,
- Cat hook,
- Chain hook,
- Check hook,
- Chimney hook,
- Clove hook,
- Crochet hook,
- Deck hook,
- Draught hook,
- Eccentric hook,
- Fly hook,
- Forelock hook,
- Gate hook,
- Gorge hook,
- Grub hook,
- Hook and eye,
- Hook bill,
- Hook ladder,
- Hook motion,
- Hook squid,
- Hook wrench,
- Hooke's gearing,
- Hooke's joint,
- Hooks, TX,
- India Hook,
- Junk hook,
- Kranging hook,
- Marcus Hook,
- Mousing hook,
- On one's own hook,
- Pruning hook,
- Reaping hook,
- Red Hook,
- Sail hook,
- Sandy Hook,
- Shave hook,
- Side hook,
- Sister hooks,
- Spring hook,
- Swamp hook,
- Swivel hook,
- To go off the hooks,
- V hook,
- Warping hook,
- Wed hook,
- Weed hook,
- Weeding hook,
- Welsh hook,
- arrester hook,
- bench hook,
- clip hook,
- cranging hook,
- cup hook,
- dog hook,
- fire hook,
- grappling hook,
- hook and ladder,
- hook bones,
- hook of holland,
- hook shot,
- hook spanner,
- hooke's law,
- match hook,
- meat hook,
- meat hooks,
- reap hook,
- robert hooke,
- Hook-nosed,
- India Hook, SC,
- Marcus Hook, PA,
- Red Hook, NY,
- Sandy Hook, KY,
- Tenter-hook,
- To be on the tenter-hooks,
- hook and ladder truck,
- hook line and sinker,
- hook-and-ladder,
- hook-billed,
- hook-shaped,
- Hook-billed marlin,
- hook-and-ladder company,
- hook-and-ladder truck