What is the meaning of this idiom by hook or crook?

What is the meaning of this idiom by hook or crook?

“By hook or by crook” is an English phrase meaning “by any means necessary”, suggesting that any means possible should be taken to accomplish a goal.

Where does the phrase by hook or crook come from?

Either by hooke or crooke, by night or day. – Suggestion number one is that ‘by hook or by crook’ derives from the custom in medieval England of allowing peasants to take from royal forests whatever deadwood they could pull down with a shepherd’s crook or cut with a reaper’s bill-hook.

How do you use hook or crook in a sentence?

By hook or by crook we will supply their places and do their work. Those who want office development or retail areas will try, by hook or by crook, to get them. They want their own way by hook or by crook. Surely this is a mistake which by hook or by crook—if those are not unfortunate words—should somehow be corrected.

What is the meaning of crocodile tears in idioms?

crocodile tears. An insincere display of grief, as in When the play’s star broke her leg, her understudy wept crocodile tears. This term comes from the mistaken notion that crocodiles weep while eating their prey, one held in ancient Roman times.

Is call it a day an idiom?

Definition. Idiom: call it a day. to stop work or another activity. to end doing an activity for the day because you feel you have done enough (but will resume the activity the next day or at a later time) to terminate or end something.

What is the difference between a hook and a crook?

As nouns the difference between hook and crook is that hook is a rod bent into a curved shape, typically with one end free and the other end secured to a rope or other attachment while crook is a bend; turn; curve; curvature; a flexure.

Who said by hook or crook?

Oliver Cromwell
The received wisdom is that the common phrase originated from a vow made by Oliver Cromwell in the 17th century to take the city of Waterford in Ireland either by Hook (on the eastern side of the Waterford Estuary) or by Crooke (to the west).

What is the meaning of the idiom eat your words?

If you say that someone has to eat their words, you mean that they have to admit that they were wrong about something they said in the past, especially when this makes them look foolish.

How do you use crook in a sentence?

Crook sentence example

  1. Cade stood, gently tucking Zack into the crook of his arm.
  2. She tucked her head into the crook of his neck, breathing him in.
  3. The real programme was to secure, by hook or by crook , a majority at the pools.

What does smart cookie mean?

Definition of smart cookie : a person who is smart You’re one smart cookie.

What does the slang by hook or by Crook mean?

” By hook or by crook ” is an English phrase meaning “by any means necessary”, suggesting that any means possible should be taken to accomplish a goal. The phrase was first recorded in the Middle English Controversial Tracts of John Wyclif in 1380.

What is the origin of the phrase by hook or by Crook?

By hook or by crook. ” By hook or by crook ” is an English phrase meaning “by any means necessary”, suggesting that any means possible should be taken to accomplish a goal. The phrase is very old, first recorded in the Middle English Controversial Tracts of John Wyclif in 1380. The origin of the phrase is obscure,…

How do you use Crook in a sentence?

By some hook or crook we managed to buy those wrecks of what had once been oxen.

  • And each of those guards cradled in the crook of his arm one of the rifle weapons.
  • I can crook my little finger and swing you off into space at the end of a rope.
  • They have kept the shape of his limb and the crook of his knee in an uncanny way.
  • How many words can you make out of Crook?

    Crook is an acceptable word in Scrabble with 11 points. Crook is an accepted word in Word with Friends having 12 points. Crook is a 5 letter medium Word starting with C and ending with K. Below are Total 12 words made out of this word.

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