What is "crook"

crook \crook\ (kr[oo^]k), n. [OE. crok; akin to Icel. kr[=o]kr hook, bend, SW. krok, Dan. krog, OD. krooke; or cf. Gael. crocan crook, hook, W. crwca crooked. Cf. Crosier, Crotchet, Crutch, Encroach.]

1. A bend, turn, or curve; curvature; flexure.

   Through lanes, and crooks, and darkness.
   --Phaer.

2. Any implement having a bent or crooked end. Especially:

   1. The staff used by a shepherd, the hook of which serves to hold a runaway sheep.

   2. A bishop's staff of office. Cf. Pastoral staff.

      He left his crook, he left his flocks.
      --Prior.

3. A pothook. ``As black as the crook.''
   --Sir W. Scott.

4. An artifice; trick; tricky device; subterfuge.

   For all yuor brags, hooks, and crooks.
   --Cranmer.

5. (Mus.) A small tube, usually curved, applied to a trumpet, horn, etc., to change its pitch or key.

6. A person given to fraudulent practices; an accomplice of thieves, forgers, etc. [Cant, U.S.]

   By hook or by crook, in some way or other; by fair means or foul.

early 13c., "hook-shaped instrument or weapon," from Old Norse krokr "hook, corner," cognate with Old High German kracho "hooked tool," of obscure origin but perhaps related to a widespread group of Germanic kr- words meaning "bent, hooked." Meaning "swindler" is American English, 1879, from crooked in figurative sense of "dishonest" (1708). Crook "dishonest trick" was in Middle English.

Etymology 1 n. 1 A bend; turn; curve; curvature; a flexure. 2 A bending of the knee; a genuflection. 3 A bent or curved part; a curving piece or portion (of anything). 4 (lb en obsolete) A lock or curl of hair. 5 (lb en obsolete) A gibbet. 6 (lb en obsolete) A support beam consisting of a post with a cross-beam resting upon it; a bracket or truss consisting of a vertical piece, a horizontal piece, and a strut. 7 A shepherd's crook; a staff with a semi-circular bend ("hook") at one end used by shepherds. 8 A bishop's staff of office. 9 An artifice; a trick; a contrivance. 10 A person who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things; a criminal. 11 A pothook. 12 (lb en music) A small tube, usually curved, applied to a trumpet, horn, etc., to change its pitch or key. vb. 1 (context transitive English) To bend. 2 To turn from the path of rectitude; to pervert; to misapply; to twist. Etymology 2

1. 1 (context Australia New Zealand slang English) Bad, unsatisfactory, not up to standard. 2 (context Australia New Zealand slang English) ill, sick. 3 (context Australia New Zealand slang English) annoyed, angry; upset.

1. n. someone who has committed (or been legally convicted of) a crime [syn: criminal, felon, outlaw, malefactor]

2. a circular segment of a curve; "a bend in the road"; "a crook in the path" [syn: bend, turn]

3. a long staff with one end being hook shaped [syn: shepherd's crook]

v. bend or cause to bend; "He crooked his index finger"; "the road curved sharply" [syn: curve]

Crook is another name for criminal.

Crook or Crooks may also refer to:

A crook, also sometimes called a shank, is an exchangeable segment of tubing in a natural horn (or other brass instrument, such as a natural trumpet) which is used to change the length of the pipe, altering the fundamental pitch and harmonic series which the instrument can sound, and thus the key in which it plays.

Crook is a 2010 Bollywood adult thriller film popularly known by the title of It's Good to be Bad!. The film stars Emraan Hashmi, Neha Sharma and Arjan Bajwa in the lead. It is directed by Mohit Suri and produced by Mukesh Bhatt. It was released on 8 October 2010. Before the release, the film was given an 'A' certificate from the Indian Censor Board, due to the erotic scenes between Emraan Hashmi and Shella Allen. Mostly shot in Australia and South Africa, the film is based on the controversy regarding the allegedly racial attacks on Indian students in Australia between 2007 and 2010. The film met mixed responses upon its release and went on to become a box office flop.

Crook is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:

• A. R. Crook (1864–1930), American geologist
• Andrew Crook (born 1980), Australian cricketer
• Billy Crook (American soccer) (born 1964)
• Catherine Crook de Camp (1907–2000), American science fiction author
• Clive Crook (born 1953), English columnist, editor and author
• Eddie Crook, Jr. (1929–2005), American boxer
• David Crook (1910–2000), British Marxist
• David Moore Crook (1914–1944), British fighter pilot
• Frances Crook (born 1952), British Labour Party politician
• General Crook or General Columbus Crook (born 1945), an American blues musician
• George Crook (1828–1890), American general
• Hal Crook (born 1950), jazz trombonist
• Howard Crook (born 1947), American tenor
• Ian Crook (born 1963), former English professional football player
• J. Mordaunt Crook (born 1937), British architectural historian
• John Crook (disambiguation), multiple people
• Lorianne Crook (born 1957), American radio and television personality
• Mackenzie Crook (born 1971), British actor
• Malcolm Crook, professor of French history
• Margaret Brackenbury Crook (1886–1972), British Unitarian minister and U.S. professor of religious studies
• Martyn Crook (1956–2008), British soccer coach
• Max Crook (born 1936), American musician
• P J Crook (born 1945), British painter
• Reginald Douglas Crook, 1st Baron Crook (1901–1989), British peer
• Steven Crook (born 1983), Australian cricketer
• Terry Crook (born 1949), former English rugby league player
• Thomas Crook (1798–1879), New York politician
• Thurman C. Crook (1891–1981), U.S. politician
• Tim Crooks (born 1949), former British rower
• Tommy Crook (born 1944), American musician
• Tony Crook (1920–2014), English racing driver
• Tony Crook (politician) (born 1959), Australian politician
• Walter Crook (1912–1988), English footballer and manager