hook·er 1
(ho͝ok′ər)n.1. A single-masted fishing smack used off the coast of Ireland.
2. An old worn-out or clumsy ship.
hook·er 2
(ho͝ok′ər)n.1. One that hooks.
2. Slang A prostitute.
Word History: In his Personal Memoirs Ulysses S. Grant described Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker as "a dangerous man ... not subordinate to his superiors." Hooker had his faults. He may indeed have been insubordinate; he was undoubtedly an erratic leader. But "Fighting Joe" Hooker is often accused of one thing he certainly did not do: he did not give his name to prostitutes. According to a popular story about the origin of the term hooker, the men under Hooker's command during the Civil War were a particularly wild bunch who would spend much of their time in brothels when on leave, and thus prostitutes came to be known as hookers. However, this tale of the origin of hooker cannot be true. The explanation of this highlights a procedure that etymologists often use when trying to evaluate proposed etymologies that relate the origin of a word to a specific historical event or to the name of a historical person: if the word is attested before the event occurred, or before the person lived, then the word cannot have originated with that event or in that person's name. In fact, the word hooker with the sense "prostitute" is recorded before the Civil War. As early as 1845 it is found in North Carolina, as reported in Norman Ellsworth Eliason's Tarheel Talk: An Historical Study of the English Language in North Carolina to 1860, published in 1956. It also appears in the second edition of John Russell Bartlett's Dictionary of Americanisms, published in 1859, where it is defined as "a strumpet, a sailor's trull." Etymologically, it is most likely that hooker is simply "one who hooks or snares clients."
hook·er 3
(ho͝ok′ər)n. Slang A drink of undiluted hard liquor: a hooker of whiskey.
[Probably from the hook-like form of the arm taken in raising a drink to the mouth.]
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.
hooker
(ˈhʊkə) n1. (Fishing) a commercial fishing boat using hooks and lines instead of nets
2. (Nautical Terms) a sailing boat of the west of Ireland formerly used for cargo and now for pleasure sailing and racing
[C17: from Dutch hoeker]
hooker
(ˈhʊkə) n1. a person or thing that hooks
2. slang a. a draught of alcoholic drink, esp of spirits
b. a prostitute
3. (Rugby) rugby the central forward in the front row of a scrum whose main job is to hook the ball
Hooker
(ˈhʊkə) n1. (Biography) John Lee. 1917–2001, US blues singer and guitarist
2. (Biography) Sir Joseph Dalton. 1817–1911, British botanist; director of Kew Gardens (1865–85)
3. (Biography) Richard. 1554–1600, British theologian, who influenced Anglican theology with The Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity (1593–97)
4. (Biography) Sir William Jackson. 1785–1865, British botanist; first director of Kew Gardens: father of Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
hook•er1
(ˈhʊk ər)
n. 1. Slang. a prostitute.
2. Slang. a large drink of liquor.
3. a person or thing that hooks.
hook•er2
(ˈhʊk ər)
n. Naut. Slang. any old-fashioned or clumsy vessel.
[1635–45; < Dutch
hoeker=
hoek hook +
-er -er1]
Hook•er
(ˈhʊk ər)
n. 1. Joseph, 1814–79, Union general in the U.S. Civil War.
2. Richard, 1554?–1600, English author and clergyman.
3. Thomas, 1586?–1647, English Puritan: founder of Connecticut.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
hooker
The central forward in the front row of the scrum whose main job it is to hook the ball with his heel to a teammate.
Dictionary of Unfamiliar Words by Diagram Group Copyright © 2008 by Diagram Visual Information Limited