hooker

See also: Hooker

English

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Etymology tree
English hook
Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂
Proto-Indo-European *-os?
Proto-Indo-European *-o-
Proto-Indo-European *-so-
Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂so-
Proto-Indo-European *-is
Proto-Indo-European *-yós
Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂s(i)yós
Proto-Italic *-āsijos
Proto-Italic *-āsios
Latin -āriusnom.
Latin -āriusbor.
Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz
Proto-West Germanic *-ārī
Old English -ere
Middle English -ere
▲
Latin -ārius
Old French -ierbor.
Middle English -er
English -er
English hooker

    From hook (verb) + -er.

    Noun

    hooker (plural hookers)

    1. One who, or that which, hooks.
    2. (rugby) A player who hooks the ball out of the scrum with his foot.
      • 2011 September 18, Ben Dirs, “Rugby World Cup 2011: England 41-10 Georgia”, in BBC Sport‎[1], archived from the original on 12 November 2011:
        Hooker Dylan Hartley was sent to the sin-bin after yet another infringement at the breakdown and, on the stroke of half-time, Georgia's territorial advantage finally told when number eight Basilaia surged over from the base of the scrum for a try next to the posts.
    3. (cricket) A batsman or batswoman adept at or fond of playing hook shots.
      • 1990, Ashes: Battles and Bellylaughs, Byron Bay: Swan Publishing, page 32:
        I once saw Hassett drop England opening batsman and compulsive hooker, Cyril Washbrook, twice in succession at deep fine leg.
    4. A crocheter.
    5. (informal, dated) Synonym of hook (“attention-grabbing element of a creative work”).
      • 1966, Charles Anthony Wainwright, The Television Copywriter, page 39:
        We regard the first seven seconds of a television commercial as the most critical or crucial in the whole unit — the "Do or Die Seven" — the "moment of decision" or the "hooker", if you will, when we must capture the attention of the viewer, get him involved in the action, […]
    6. (archaic, thieves' cant) A thief who uses a pole with a hook on the end to steal goods.
      • c. 1608–1610, Samuel Rid, Martin Mark-all, Beadle of Bridewell:
        They are sure to be clyd in the night by the angler, or hooker, or such like pilferers that liue upon the spoyle of other poore people.
      • 1834, William Harrison Ainsworth, Rookwood‎[2], volume 2, Oath of the Canting Crew, page 339:
        Suffer none, from far or near, / With their rights to interfere; / No strange Abram, Ruffler crack— / Hooker of another pack—
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    Etymology 2

    Unknown. The "prostitute" sense is the subject of a folk etymology connecting it to General Hooker of the American Civil War, but the earliest known use dates to 1835, decades before the war. Less implausibly, it has also been connected to a coastal feature called a hook (“A spit or narrow cape of sand or gravel turned landward at the outer end, such as Sandy Hook in New Jersey, Red Hook in New York”) in the ports of New York and Baltimore, or simply to Etymology 1, hook (“to catch with a hook”) +‎ -er suggesting that prostitutes catch men like fish. Carefully learned inference is not conclusive. See this essay, pp 105ff.

    Noun

    hooker (plural hookers)

    1. (US, slang) A prostitute. [from 1845]
    2. (slang, dated, 1920s to 1940s) An imprecise measure of alcoholic drink; a "slug" (of gin), or an overlarge gulp.
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    Etymology 3

    Noun

    hooker (plural hookers)

    1. Alternative spelling of hookah.

    Etymology 4

    From Dutch hoeker, an alteration of Middle Dutch hoecboot, from hoec + boot.

    Noun

    hooker (plural hookers)

    1. A small fishing boat; (hence) any small or run-down ship.
      Synonyms: Galway, Galway hooker

    References

    Anagrams

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