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hooker

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hooker¹

  • /ˈhʊkə/ Australia, UK
  • [ˈhʊkə] Australia, UK
  • /ˈhɵkə/ British, Southern, Standard
  • [ˈhɵkə] ~ [ˈhɘkə] British, Southern, Standard
  • /ˈhʊkɚ/ US
  • [ˈhʊkɚ] ~ [ˈhʊkɹ̩] US
  • /ˈhʊkə/ New Zealand
  • [ˈhʊkə] ~ [ˈhɵkə] ~ [ˈhɨ̞kə] New Zealand
  • /ˈhʉkəɾ/ Scotland
  • /ˈhʉkəɻ/ Northern Ireland

Rhymes with -ʊkə(ɹ)

noun hookers

  1. One who, or that which, hooks.
  2. A player who hooks the ball out of the scrum with his foot. Hooker Dylan Hartley was sent to the sin-bin after yet another infringement at the breakdown and, on the stroke of half-time, Georgia's territorial advantage finally told when number eight Basilaia surged over from the base of the scrum for a try next to the posts.
  3. A batsman or batswoman adept at or fond of playing hook shots. I once saw Hassett drop England opening batsman and compulsive hooker, Cyril Washbrook, twice in succession at deep fine leg.
  4. A crocheter.
  5. dated, informal Synonym of hook (“attention-grabbing element of a creative work”). We regard the first seven seconds of a television commercial as the most critical or crucial in the whole unit — the "Do or Die Seven" — the "moment of decision" or the "hooker", if you will, when we must capture the attention of the viewer, get him involved in the action, […]

    Similar: hook

  6. archaic A thief who uses a pole with a hook on the end to steal goods. They are sure to be clyd in the night by the angler, or hooker, or such like pilferers that liue upon the spoyle of other poore people.

    Similar: angler, nuthook

hooker²

  • /ˈhʊkə/ Australia, UK
  • [ˈhʊkə] Australia, UK
  • /ˈhɵkə/ British, Southern, Standard
  • [ˈhɵkə] ~ [ˈhɘkə] British, Southern, Standard
  • /ˈhʊkɚ/ US
  • [ˈhʊkɚ] ~ [ˈhʊkɹ̩] US
  • /ˈhʊkə/ New Zealand
  • [ˈhʊkə] ~ [ˈhɵkə] ~ [ˈhɨ̞kə] New Zealand
  • /ˈhʉkəɾ/ Scotland
  • /ˈhʉkəɻ/ Northern Ireland

Rhymes with -ʊkə(ɹ)

Where it comes from

Unknown. The "prostitute" sense is the subject of a folk etymology connecting it to General Hooker of the American Civil War, but the earliest known use dates to 1835, decades before the war. Less implausibly, it has also been connected to a coastal feature called a hook (“A spit or narrow cape of sand or gravel turned landward at the outer end, such as Sandy Hook in New Jersey, Red Hook in New York”) in the ports of New York and Baltimore. Carefully learned inference is not conclusive. See this essay, pp 105ff.

noun hookers

  1. US, slang A prostitute. All my life, been hustling / And tonight is my appraisal / 'Cause I'm a hooker selling songs / And my pimp's a record label
  2. dated, slang An imprecise measure of alcoholic drink; a "slug" (of gin), or an overlarge gulp. Emily had cut short these 3 A.M. glooms with a hooker of bourbon.

hooker³

  • /ˈhʊkə/ Australia, UK
  • [ˈhʊkə] Australia, UK
  • /ˈhɵkə/ British, Southern, Standard
  • [ˈhɵkə] ~ [ˈhɘkə] British, Southern, Standard
  • /ˈhʊkɚ/ US
  • [ˈhʊkɚ] ~ [ˈhʊkɹ̩] US
  • /ˈhʊkə/ New Zealand
  • [ˈhʊkə] ~ [ˈhɵkə] ~ [ˈhɨ̞kə] New Zealand
  • /ˈhʉkəɾ/ Scotland
  • /ˈhʉkəɻ/ Northern Ireland

Rhymes with -ʊkə(ɹ)

noun hookers

  1. alternative Alternative spelling of hookah

hooker⁴

  • /ˈhʊkə/ Australia, UK
  • [ˈhʊkə] Australia, UK
  • /ˈhɵkə/ British, Southern, Standard
  • [ˈhɵkə] ~ [ˈhɘkə] British, Southern, Standard
  • /ˈhʊkɚ/ US
  • [ˈhʊkɚ] ~ [ˈhʊkɹ̩] US
  • /ˈhʊkə/ New Zealand
  • [ˈhʊkə] ~ [ˈhɵkə] ~ [ˈhɨ̞kə] New Zealand
  • /ˈhʉkəɾ/ Scotland
  • /ˈhʉkəɻ/ Northern Ireland

Rhymes with -ʊkə(ɹ)

Where it comes from

From Dutch hoeker, an alteration of Middle Dutch hoecboot, from hoec + boot.

noun hookers

  1. A small fishing boat. In England there are Brighton Beach boats, Centre-board sloops, Pollywogs, Lough Erne yachts, Unas, New Brighton sailing-boats, yachts of the Norfolk Broads, Itchen, Clyde sailing and Keystone boats, Penzance luggers, Cobbles, Galways, Hookers and Pookhauns […]

    Similar: Galway, Galway hooker

  2. derogatory, slang Any antiquated craft. [T]he poor Flash is gone, and there is an end of it. Poor old hooker. Hey, Almayer? You made a voyage or two with me. Wasn’t she a sweet craft?

Hooker⁵

proper noun

  1. A surname originating as an occupation for a maker of hooks.
  2. An unincorporated community in Tehama County, California.
  3. An unincorporated community in Dade County, Georgia.
  4. An unincorporated community in Clay County, Kentucky.
  5. A ghost town in Pulaski County, Missouri.
  6. Two townships in Nebraska, in Dixon County and Gage County.
  7. An unincorporated community in Fairfield County, Ohio.
  8. A small city in Texas County, Oklahoma.
  9. An unincorporated community in Turner County, South Dakota.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: street girl, floozie, slattern, streetwalker, floozy, hustler, prostitute, prostitution, whore, harlot, puta, skank, hussy, stripper, tramp, escort

Translations

Every language

noun rugby player

Españolhooker, talonador, talonadora
Françaistalonneur, talonneuse
DeutschHakler
Italianotallonatore
Românătaloner

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Cite this
MLA

"hooker." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/hooker. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

hooker. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/hooker

Chicago

"hooker." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/hooker.

BibTeX
@misc{hooker_2026,
  title = {hooker},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/hooker},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}