Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

by hook or by crook

/baɪ ˈhʊk‿əɹ baɪ ˈkɹʊk/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.36 in modern English

Syllables: by hook or by crook
IPA: /baɪ ˈhʊk‿əɹ baɪ ˈkɹʊk/

38

Scrabble Score

15

Letters

1

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

prep_phrase

By any means possible; one way or another.

Example Sentences

"She was determined to win the contract by hook or by crook."
"Nor wyll suffre this boke / By hoke ne by croke / Prynted for to be, […]"
"Some out of that inſatiable deſire of filthy lucre, to enrich themſelues, care not hovv they come by it, per fas & nefas [by right and wrong], hooke or crooke, ſo they haue it."
"Novv if you could put us in a vvay, by hook or by crook, to get her out of the convent—"
"P.S. I hope you will be enabled by hook or by crook, to send B—— and H——, together with a certain Mr. Guthrie, to Philadelphia, for their winter quarters."
"Thus, by diverse little make shifts, in that ingenious way which is commonly denominated "by hook and by crook," the worthy pedagogue got on tolerably enough, and was thought, by all those who undersood nothing of the labour of headwork, to have a wonderful easy life of it."

Etymology

From earlier by howke or crooke, by hoke ne by croke, etc., from Middle English wiþ hok or crok, wiþ hook or wiþ crok; further origin unknown. One suggestion is that the term is derived from the common of estovers, an ancient right in English law for tenants of land to gather dead wood on common land using blunt tools such as hooks and shepherd’s crooks.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: *keg-

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /baɪ ˈhʊk‿əɹ baɪ ˈkɹʊk/
British English: /baɪ ˈhʊk‿ə baɪ ˈkɹʊk/

Inflected Forms

by hook and by crook (alternative)

Phrases

stop at nothing

Frequently Paired Words

stop at nothing

Synonyms

at all costs by any means by fair means or foul no matter what whatever it takes with hook or crook

Rhymes With

look took book fuck talk like a book bring to book cook hook log book log-book outlook shook

Questions

How do you pronounce by hook or by crook?: The recorded pronunciation is /baɪ ˈhʊk‿əɹ baɪ ˈkɹʊk/.
What does by hook or by crook mean?: By any means possible; one way or another.
Where does by hook or by crook come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce by hook or by crook

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