by hook or by crook
By any means possible; one way or another.
She was determined to win the contract by hook or by crook.
crook
/kɹʊk/
noun 5name 5verb 3adj 3
Collocations
2(noun.)
ADJ
small-time
VERB + CROOK
catch
Definitions
noun
1
A bend; turn; curve; curvature; a flexure.
She held the baby in the crook of her arm.
he walks bye lanes, and crooks
2
A bending of the knee; a genuflection.
3
A bent or curved part; a curving piece or portion (of anything).
the crook of a cane
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.
4
A lock or curl of hair.
5
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.
verb
1
To bend, or form into a hook.
He crooked his finger toward me.
No, let the candied tongue lick absurd pomp, / And crook the pregnant hinges of the knee / Where thrift may follow fawning.
2
To become bent or hooked.
3
To turn from the path of rectitude; to pervert; to misapply; to twist.
For the foundation of youthe well ſet (as Plato doth ſaye) the whole bodye of the common wealthe ſhall flouriſhe thereafter. If the younge tree growe croked, when it is oulde, a man ſhall rather breake it than ſtreight it. And I thincke there is no one thinge that crokes youthe more then ſuch unlawful games.
The referring of all to a man's self, is more tolerable in a sovereign prince; because themselves are not only themselves, but their good and evil is at the peril of the public fortune. But it is a desperate evil, in a servant to a prince, or a citizen in a republic. For whatsoever affairs pass such a man's hands, he crooketh them to his own ends; which must needs be often eccentric to the ends of his master, or state.
adj
1
Bad, unsatisfactory, not up to standard.
That work you did on my car is crook, mate.
Not turning up for training was pretty crook.
2
Ill, sick.
I′m feeling a bit crook.
3
Annoyed, angry; upset.
be crook at/about; go crook at
Ann explained to the teacher what had happened and the nuns went crook at me too.
Thesaurus
Idioms & Phrases
Example Bank
601
She held the baby in the crook of her arm.
Wiktionary02
he walks bye lanes, and crooks
Wiktionary03
the crook of a cane
Wiktionary04
He crooked his finger toward me.
Wiktionary05
No, let the candied tongue lick absurd pomp, / And crook the pregnant hinges of the knee / Where thrift may follow fawning.
Wiktionary06
For if a damsel's blind or lame, / Or nature's hand has crooked her frame, / Or if she's deaf or is wall-eyed; / Yet if her heart is well inclined, / Some tender lover she shall find / That panteth fo
WiktionaryUsage Notes
i Register
In some senses, crook is marked as obsolete, slang. Watch for register when choosing this word.
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