hood /hʊ d/ (hoods )
1 N‑COUNT A hood is a part of a coat which you can pull up to cover your head. It is in the shape of a triangular bag attached to the neck of the coat at the back.
2 N‑COUNT The hood of a car is the metal cover over the engine at the front. [AM ] in BRIT, use bonnet 3 N‑COUNT [usu n N ] A cooker hood is an electrical device fitted over a cooker above head height, and containing an extractor fan and usually a light.
hood|ed /hʊ d I d/
1 ADJ [usu ADJ n] A hooded piece of clothing or furniture has a hood. □ …a blue, hooded anorak.
2 ADJ [ADJ n] If someone has hooded eyes, their eyelids always look as though they are partly closed.
3 ADJ [ADJ n] A hooded person is wearing a hood or a piece of clothing pulled down over their face, so they are difficult to recognize. □ The class was held hostage by a hooded gunman.
hood|ie /hʊ d I /
1 N‑COUNT A hoodie is a type of casual jacket with a hood. [INFORMAL ] □ She wore jeans and a hoodie.
2 A hoodie is a young person wearing a hoodie, thought by some people to be badly behaved or possibly criminal. [INFORMAL ] □ He said he had felt threatened by a group of hoodies outside a shop.
hood|lum /huː dləm/ (hoodlums ) N‑COUNT A hoodlum is a violent criminal, especially one who is a member of a group. [INFORMAL ]
hood|wink /hʊ dw I ŋk/ (hoodwinks , hoodwinking , hoodwinked ) VERB If someone hoodwinks you, they trick or deceive you. □ [V n] People expect others to be honest, which is why conmen find it so easy to hoodwink people.
hoof /huː f/ (hoofs or hooves ) N‑COUNT [usu pl] The hooves of an animal such as a horse are the hard lower parts of its feet. □ The horses' hooves often could not get a proper grip.
hoof|er /huː fə r / (hoofers ) N‑COUNT A hoofer is a dancer, especially one who dances in musicals. [INFORMAL ]
hoo-ha /huː hɑː/ N‑SING If there is a hoo-ha , there is a lot of fuss about something. [INFORMAL ] □ Schulman is a little tired of the hoo-ha about the all-women team.
hook ◆◇◇ /hʊ k/ (hooks , hooking , hooked )
1 N‑COUNT A hook is a bent piece of metal or plastic that is used for catching or holding things, or for hanging things up. □ One of his jackets hung from a hook. □ …curtain hooks.
2 VERB If you hook one thing to another, you attach it there using a hook. If something hooks somewhere, it can be hooked there. □ [V n + to/onto ] Paul hooked his tractor to the car and pulled it to safety. □ [V + onto ] …one of those can openers that hooked onto the wall. [Also V n prep, V prep]
3 VERB If you hook your arm, leg, or foot round an object, you place it like a hook round the object in order to move it or hold it. □ [V n prep] She latched on to his arm, hooking her other arm around a tree.
4 VERB If you hook a fish, you catch it with a hook on the end of a line. □ [V n] At the first cast I hooked a huge fish.
5 N‑COUNT [usu adj N ] A hook is a short sharp blow with your fist that you make with your elbow bent, usually in a boxing match. □ He was knocked down by a left hook in the first round.
6 VERB If you are hooked into something, or hook into something, you get involved with it. [mainly AM ] □ [be/get V -ed + into ] I'm guessing again now because I'm not hooked into the political circles. □ [V + into ] Eager to hook into a career but can't find one right for you?
7 VERB If you hook into the internet, you make a connection with the internet on a particular occasion so that you can use it. □ [V + into ] …an interactive media tent where people will be able to hook into the internet. ● PHRASAL VERB Hook up means the same as hook . □ [V P + to ] It has no mobile connectivity, which means that users must rely on wi-fi to hook up to the internet.
8 PHRASE If someone gets off the hook or is let off the hook , they manage to get out of the awkward or unpleasant situation that they are in. [INFORMAL ] □ Sometimes they do let the culprits off the hook.
9 PHRASE If you take a phone off the hook , you take the receiver off the part that it normally rests on, so that the phone will not ring.
10 PHRASE If your phone is ringing off the hook , so many people are trying to phone you that it is ringing constantly. [AM ] □ Since war broke out, the phones at donation centers have been ringing off the hook.
11 by hook or by crook → see crook
12 hook, line, and sinker → see sinker
▸ hook up
1 → see hook 7
2 PHRASAL VERB When someone hooks up a computer or other electronic machine, they connect it to other similar machines or to a central power supply. □ [V P n] …technicians who hook up computer systems and networks. □ [V n P ] He brought it down, hooked it up, and we got the generator going. □ [be V -ed P + to ] …if the machine is hooked up to an apartment's central wiring system. [Also V n P to n]
hooked /hʊ kt/
1 ADJ [usu ADJ n] If you describe something as hooked , you mean that it is shaped like a hook. □ He was thin and tall, with a hooked nose.
2 ADJ [v-link ADJ ] If you are hooked on something, you enjoy it so much that it takes up a lot of your interest and attention. [INFORMAL ] □ [+ on ] Many of the leaders have become hooked on power and money.