off the hook

hook

H0269900 (ho͝ok)n.1. a. A curved or sharply bent device, usually of metal, used to catch, drag, suspend, or fasten something else.b. A fishhook.2. Something shaped like a hook, especially:a. A curved or barbed plant or animal part.b. A short angled or curved line on a letter.c. A sickle.3. a. A sharp bend or curve, as in a river.b. A point or spit of land with a sharply curved end.4. A means of catching or ensnaring; a trap.5. Slang a. A means of attracting interest or attention; an enticement: a sales hook.b. Music A catchy motif or refrain: "sugary hard rock melodies [and] ear candy hooks" (Boston Globe).6. Sports a. A short swinging blow in boxing delivered with a crooked arm.b. The course of a ball that curves in a direction away from the dominant hand of the player propelling it, as to the left of a right-handed player.c. A stroke that sends a ball on such a course.d. A ball propelled on such a course.e. In surfing, the lip of a breaking wave.7. Baseball A curve ball.8. Basketball A hook shot.v. hooked, hook·ing, hooks v.tr.1. a. To catch, suspend, or connect with a hook.b. Informal To snare.c. Slang To steal; snatch.2. To fasten by a hook.3. To pierce or gore with a hook.4. Slang a. To take strong hold of; captivate: a novel that hooked me on the very first page.b. To cause to become addicted.5. To make (a rug) by looping yarn through canvas with a type of hook.6. Sports a. To hit with a hook in boxing.b. To hit (a golf ball) in a hook.7. Baseball To pitch (a ball) with a curve.8. Basketball To shoot (a ball) in a hook shot.9. Sports To impede the progress of (an opponent in ice hockey) by holding or restraining the player with one's stick, in violation of the rules.v.intr.1. To bend like a hook.2. To fasten by means of a hook or a hook and eye.3. Slang To work as a prostitute.Phrasal Verb: hook up1. To assemble or wire (a mechanism).2. To connect a mechanism and a source of power.3. Slang a. To meet or associate: We agreed to hook up after class. He hooked up with the wrong crowd.b. To become sexually involved with someone, especially casually.c. To marry or get married.Idioms: by hook or by crook By whatever means possible, fair or unfair. get the hook Slang To be unceremoniously dismissed or terminated. hook, line, and sinker Informal Without reservation; completely: swallowed the excuse hook, line, and sinker. off the hook Informal Freed, as from blame or a vexatious obligation: let me off the hook with a mild reprimand. on (one's) own hook By one's own efforts.

[Middle English hok, from Old English hōc; see keg- in Indo-European roots.]

Thesaurus

Adj.

off the hook - freed from danger or blame or obligation; "I let him off the hook with a mild reprimand"safe - free from danger or the risk of harm; "a safe trip"; "you will be safe here"; "a safe place"; "a safe bet"

Translations

摆脱困境

hook

(huk) noun1. a small piece of metal shaped like a J fixed at the end of a fishing-line used for catching fish etc. a fish-hook.钩2. a bent piece of metal etc used for hanging coats, cups etc on, or a smaller one sewn on to a garment, for fastening it. Hang your jacket on that hook behind the door; hooks and eyes.挂钩3. in boxing, a kind of punch with the elbow bent. a left hook. 肘弯击，勾拳 verb1. to catch (a fish etc) with a hook. He hooked a large salmon. 用钓钩钓（鱼） 2. to fasten or to be fastened by a hook or hooks. He hooked the ladder on (to the branch); This bit hooks on to that bit; Could you hook my dress up down the back?钩紧3. in golf, to hit (the ball) far to the left of where it should be (or to the right if one is left-handed). 使（球）向左弯 hooked adjective1. curved like a hook. a hooked nose.钩状的2. (with on) slang for very interested in, or showing a great liking for; addicted to. He's hooked on modern art; He's hooked on marijuana.入了迷的by hook or by crook by some means or another; in any way possible. I'll get her to marry me, by hook or by crook.不择手段地off the hook free from some difficulty or problem. If he couldn't keep the terms of the contract, he shouldn't have signed it – I don't see how we can get him off the hook now.摆脱困境

off the hook

1. Pardoned, vindicated, released; allowed or able to avoid blame, responsibility, obligation, or difficulty. At first, Sam was suspected of stealing money from the safe, but he was let off the hook after security camera footage showed it was someone else. A: "I thought you had that big work event tonight." B: "No, it got canceled, so I'm off the hook."2. Of a telephone receiver, not positioned on the cradle (typically resulting in a busy signal and the inability to receive calls). That's why you couldn't get through to Grandma's house before—her phone was off the hook.3. slang Very enjoyable or appealing. That band's new song is really off the hook!See also: hook, off

*off the hook

Fig. freed from an obligation. (Alludes to a fish freeing itself from a fishhook. *Typically: be ~; get ~; get someone ~; let someone ~.) Thanks for getting me off the hook. I didn't want to attend that meeting. I couldn't get myself off the hook no matter what I tried.See also: hook, off

off the hook

Also, get or let off the hook . Released (or be released) from blame or annoying obligation, as in He was out of town during the robbery so he was off the book, or I don't know how the muggers got off the hook, or Once they found the real culprit, they let Mary off the hook. This idiom alludes to the fish that manages to free itself from the angler's hook and get away. [Mid-1800s] See also: hook, off

off the hook

1 no longer in trouble or difficulty. informal 2 (of a telephone receiver) not on its rest, and so not receiving incoming calls. Hook in sense 1 is a long-standing (mid 15th-century) figurative use of the word to mean ‘something by which a person is caught and trapped’, as a fish hook catches a fish. Sense 2 is a fossilized expression from the late 19th century, the early years of telephony, when the receiver literally hung on a hook.See also: hook, off

off the ˈhook

if you leave or take the telephone off the hook, you take the receiver (= the part that you pick up) off the place where it usually rests, so that nobody can call you: So many people were calling me that in the end I got tired of it and left the phone off the hook.See also: hook, off

off the hook

1. mod. no longer in jeopardy; no longer obligated. I’ll let you off the hook this time, but never again. 2. mod. crazy. (Referring to the telephone—disconnected.) She’s so ditzy—really off the hook. See also: hook, off

off the hook

Informal Freed, as from blame or a vexatious obligation: let me off the hook with a mild reprimand.See also: hook, off

off the hook

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off the hook

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*off the hook

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off the ˈhook

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Words related to off the hook

adj freed from danger or blame or obligation

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