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hook·up

(ho͝ok′ŭp′)

1. A system or network of electrical circuits or equipment designed to operate together.

a. A configuration of mechanical parts or devices providing a link between a supply source and a user: a gas hookup for a mobile home.

b. A plan or schematic drawing of such a system or such a configuration.

3. Informal A linkage or connection, often between unlikely associates or factors.

4. Informal

a. An act of casual sex.

b. A partner in an act of casual sex.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

hook•up

(ˈhʊkˌʌp)

n.

1. an act or instance of hooking up.

2. an assembly and connection of parts or apparatus into a circuit, network, machine, or system.

3. the circuit, network, machine, or system so formed.

4. a device or connection, as a plug, hose, or pipe, for conveying electricity, water, etc., from a source to a user.

5. Informal. an association, alliance, or cooperative effort.

[1900–05, Amer.]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	hookup - a device providing a connection between a power source and a user; "some campsites have electrical hookups for trailers" connecter, connector, connective, connection, connexion - an instrumentality that connects; "he soldered the connection"; "he didn't have the right connector between the amplifier and the speakers"
	2.	hookup - a system of components assembled together for a particular purpose assemblage system - instrumentality that combines interrelated interacting artifacts designed to work as a coherent entity; "he bought a new stereo system"; "the system consists of a motor and a small computer"

hookup

noun

Informal. A logical or natural association between two or more things:

connection, correlation, interconnection, interdependence, interrelationship, link, linkage, relation, relationship, tie-in.

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References in periodicals archive

Many Catholic college administrators seem squeamish to publicly acknowledge the hookup culture on campus.

Even on Catholic campuses, hookup sex prevails: researcher Donna Freitas finds college students see no connection between religion and sexual behavior

Study co-author Martin Monto, a sociology professor at the University of Portland, said that recent research and popular media reports have described intimate relationships among contemporary college students as characterized by a new and pervasive hookup culture in which students regularly have sex with no strings attached.

'Hookup culture' among college-goers not as rampant as believed

An outdoor wireless Web hookup, which entails only the construction of radio wave relay stations, would be less costly than the service requiring the laying-down of expensive fiber-optic networks linking ISPs with households or offices, they said.

Panel recommends technical norms for outdoor PC-Web connection

The fee includes the Net hookup levy, a rental fee for a hookup device installed in homes and a telecom charge which will be uniform regardless of the length of time the service is used.

TEPCO arm to start optic fiber-based Net hookup service

Specific questions covered the students' sexual behavior, hookup attitudes and intentions, self-esteem, religious beliefs, parents' relationship status, alcohol and marijuana use, smoking, impulsivity and sensation-seeking behavior.

Why first-year college girls are more likely to 'hook up'

Meanwhile, The American Psychological Association review: Sexual Hookup Culture has shown the disturbing psychological consequences, for both men and women, which includes unwanted sex (mostly alongside alcohol and substance abuse), profound regret and feelings of shame and depression.

How casual sex is leaving Gen Y unhappy

This important distinction may not only reflect an age or cohort effect, it may also obscure the magnitude of the ubiquity of hookup culture specific to college campuses.

THE GENDERED MEANING OF TRUST AND ITS ROLE IN SEXUAL DECISION-MAKING WITHIN AMERICAN COLLEGIATE HOOKUP CULTURE

Hookup culture is about much more than the quest for pleasure.

Off the Hook

Importantly, some scholars contend that delays in heterosexual marriage and dating, increased preference for cohabiting, and increased visibility of sexuality have led to the emergence of a hookup culture among young adults and specifically college students (Carpentier, 2017; Sassier, 2010).

THE INFLUENCE OF COLLEGE HOOKUPS ON FUTURE ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE