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Off the hook   /ɔf ðə hʊk/   Listen
noun
Hook  n.  
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.
2.
That part of a hinge which is fixed to a post, and on which a door or gate hangs and turns.
3.
An implement for cutting grass or grain; a sickle; an instrument for cutting or lopping; a billhook. "Like slashing Bentley with his desperate hook."
4.
(Steam Engin.) See Eccentric, and V-hook.
5.
A snare; a trap. (R.)
6.
A field sown two years in succession. (Prov. Eng.)
7.
pl. The projecting points of the thigh bones of cattle; called also hook bones.
8.
(Geog.) A spit or narrow cape of sand or gravel turned landward at the outer end; as, Sandy Hook in New Jersey.
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.
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.
By hook or by crook, one way or other; by any means, direct or indirect. "In hope her to attain by hook or crook."
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."
On one's own hook, on one's own account or responsibility; by one's self. (Colloq. U.S.)
To go off the hooks, to die. (Colloq.)
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.


adjective
off the hook  adj.  No longer considered responsible; as, Jack admitted breaking the vase, so Jill is off the hook. Used in various situations, with reference to responsibility to perform an action, or guilt for some misdeed.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Off the hook" Quotes from Famous Books



... smoking. He brushed the sparks off himself as if they were flakes of snow. Quick as thought, he tore 'Liza's halter from its fastening, pulling out staple and all, threw his smoking coat over her eyes, and backed her out of the shed. He reached in, and, pulling the harness off the hook, threw it as far into the snow as he could, yelling "Fire!" at the top of his voice. Then he jumped on the back of the horse, and beating her with heels and hands into a mad gallop, was off up the street before the bewildered inmates of the cottage ...
— Children of the Tenements • Jacob A. Riis
... trout knows enough to keep off the fisherman's hook; the squirrel never cracks an empty nut; the crow soon learns the harmlessness of the scarecrow. But man, though he may have twenty times wriggled off the hook, the patient angler catches him at last. He always cracks the empty shell, then cries: 'Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.' This cry he might be spared would he learn a lesson from the squirrel, who weighs ...
— Continental Monthly, Vol. I, No. V, May, 1862 - Devoted To Literature And National Policy • Various
... watched Britz in a sort of dumb bewilderment while he lifted the telephone receiver off the hook and called up the Collins house. After five minutes of anxious waiting, a voice at the other end of ...
— The Substitute Prisoner • Max Marcin
... off the Hook for the last few days, and, with a fresh U-boat scare on, him and his reformed glue barge had been havin' anything but a merry time. I don't know how the old fish-boat stood it, but Mr. Robert showed that he'd been on more or less active service. He had a three days' growth of stubble on his ...
— The House of Torchy • Sewell Ford
... in the night I would almost yield to a wild impulse and catch those pantaloons off the hook, to rush out and go to Canada with them, and then I would softly go through the pockets and hang ...
— Remarks • Bill Nye
... ever known Injun to show, and he looked at him admiringly. At that moment Injun got a bite. He did not betray any of the excitement a white boy does on such an occasion. He solemnly pulled in his line, and when it was almost in, a good-sized pickerel squirmed off the hook, and flopped back into the water. And now Injun showed no disappointment. He seriously examined the worm on his hook, to see that it was intact, then cast the ...
— Injun and Whitey to the Rescue • William S. Hart
... so the fish that bite will ring a little bell, to tell us to come and take them off the hook!" replied Daddy ...
— Daddy Takes Us Skating • Howard R. Garis
... element of chance and was perfectly delightful while it lasted. Was there ever a woman, since the world began, who did not know that sensation, either by experience or by wishing she might try it? What pleasure would there be in angling if the fish did not try to get off the hook, but stupidly swallowed it, fly and all? It might as well crawl out of the stream at once and lay itself ...
— Whosoever Shall Offend • F. Marion Crawford
... the oars, with which he had been slowly rowing the boat, and caught up his pole. Then, as the boys watched, they saw him reel in his line and lift from the water a big fish, which sparkled in the sun as it leaped and twisted, trying to get off the hook. ...
— Six Little Bunkers at Grandma Bell's • Laura Lee Hope
... enjoyed his best sport under the guidance of an Indian and by employing the Indians' spoon, which is a plain silver spoon with a loose hook. The main aim was always the large 50lb. fish, smaller fish of 25lb. or so being regarded as a nuisance, and if possible shaken off the hook. The biggest catch was eight fish six of which were about 50lb. apiece; anyone familiar with salmon fishing will know that this is no small feat after allowing for fish hooked and lost, while it must be remembered that a fish of 50lb. may take over an hour to land. Sir Richard ...
— Fishing in British Columbia - With a Chapter on Tuna Fishing at Santa Catalina • Thomas Wilson Lambert


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