| 释义 |
▪ I. crook, n. and a.|krʊk|
Forms: 3–4 croc, 3–6 croke, 4–5 Sc. and north. cruk, 4–6 crok, kroke, 5–6 cruke, 5–8 crooke, 6–9 Sc. cruik, 4– crook.
[ME. crōk, crōc, app. a. ON. krókr (Sw. krok, Da. krog) crook, hook, barb, trident; unknown elsewhere in Teutonic, but app. belonging to the same ablaut series (krak-, krôk), as OHG. chracho, chracco hook; cf. ON. kraki boat-hook.
The parallelism of form and meaning with croche, crose, is notable in sense 4. Relationship between the ablaut series krak-, krôk, and that to which crutch belongs, cannot at present be asserted.]
A. n.
1. An instrument, weapon, or tool of hooked form; a hook. spec.
†a. A reaping-hook, sickle;
b. A hook for grappling or catching;
c. A hook or bent iron on which anything is hung; e.g. one of the iron hooks on which a gate hangs: esp. in ‘crooks and bands’ (see band n.1 3); a hook in a chimney for hanging a pot or kettle on, a pot-hook; hence phr. as black as the crook (Sc.).
c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 99/241 And hire bresten fram hire bodi with Irene crokes rende. a1300Cursor M. 18104 (Cott.) He..brast þe brasen yates sa strang, And stelen croc þat þai wit hang. c1325E.E. Allit. P. A. 40 Quen corne is coruen with crokez kene. c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 640 Cleopatras, In gooth the grapenel so ful of crokis. c1420Pallad. on Husb. i. 1161 Rakes, crookes, adses, and bycornes. 1453Mem. Ripon (Surtees) III. 160 Pro nayles et crokes emptis pro magnis portis. 1522Test. Ebor. (Surtees) V. 153, j blake worsted kirtle, and the gretter golde crokes. 1587Vestry Bks. (Surtees) 26 For fowre bands & crookes, vj d. 1588A. King tr. Canisius' Catech. 177 As ane dur is tourned on the cruuks (quhilk in latin ar called cardines). 1600Surflet Countrie Farme i. xxiv. 152 Hang them [pigs when killed] to the crookes set vp in some vaulted roofe. a1774Fergusson Election Poems (1845) 40 Till, in a birn, beneath the crook, They're singit wi a scowder. 1826Scott Diary 17 Jan., With a visage as black as the crook. 1848Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. IX. ii. 420 The ends of each rafter are turned in the form of a gate-crook. 1858R. S. Surtees Ask Mamma lvi. 256 From whose lofty ceiling hung the crooks, from whence used to dangle the..legs of..mutton.
†2. A crooked claw, as of a beast or fiend; passing into sense ‘clutch’. (Cf. clutch n.1 1–3.)
In reference to fiends the sense is often doubtful; some hooked or barbed instrument may have been meant.
a1225Ancr. R. 102 (Cleop. MS.) Þe cat of helle..drouh al ut..wið crokede crokes. Ibid. 174 Uorte worpen upon ou his crokes [MS. T. hore clokes, MS. C. hise cleches]. a1300Cursor M. 23252 (Cott.) Strang paine es it on þam to loke, and namli laght vntil þair crok. Ibid. 25060 Þas oþer þat his lagh forsok, he kest þam in þat feindes croke. a1400Cov. Myst. 209 Out of thi [Satan's]..cruel crook By Godys grace man xal be redempt. 14..in Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1866) 98 The deville caught him in his croke.
†3. A barbed spear. (So in ONorse.) Obs.
c1435Torr. Portugal 1590 He bare on his nek a croke..It was twelfe ffeete and more. Ibid. 1604 Sith he pullith at his croke, So fast in to the flesh it toke That oute myȝt he gete it nought.
4. a. A shepherd's staff, having one end curved or hooked, for catching the hinder leg of a sheep.
c1430Lydg. Chorle & Byrde xlviii. in Ashm. 223 A Chepys Croke to the ys better than a Launce. c1440Promp. Parv. 104 Croke, or scheype hoke, pedum. 1635Cowley Davideis i. 2, I Sing the Man who Judah's Scepter bore In that right hand which held the Crook before. 1720Gay Dione iii. ii, Leaning on her crook Stood the sad nymph. 1883E. Pennell-Elmhirst Cream Leicestersh. 240 Where the sickle holds the place of the shepherd's crook.
b. The pastoral staff of a bishop, abbot or abbess, shaped like a shepherd's staff; a crosier.
c1386Chaucer Friar's T. 19 (Tyrwh.) Er the bishop hent hem with his crook [Harl. & 6-text hook]. c1430Pilgr. Lyf Manhode iii. xxiv. (1869) 149 This crook and this S shewen wel that j am an abbesse. 1851Longfellow Gold. Leg. i. ii. 23 The Priests came flocking in..With all their crosiers and their crooks.
5. a. Any hooked or incurved appendage, e.g. a tendril of a plant, one of the hooks on the fruit of the burdock, etc.; the curved or hooked part of anything, e.g. of a walking-stick; the ‘crosier’ of a fern.
1398Trevisa Barth. de P.R. xvii. clxxvii. (1495) 717 Those bondes or crokes of the vyne by the whyche it takyth and byclyppyth trees and stalkes. 1578Lyte Dodoens i. viii. 15 Upon the braunches there groweth small bullets..garnisshed full of little crookes or hookes. 1665Hooke Microgr. 2 The..thorns, or crooks, or hairs of leaves. 1850Florist Mar. 87 The young fronds of the..Ferns uncurling their crooks.
†b. A curl or roll of hair formerly worn. Obs. (Cf. crocket1 1.)
c1308Sat. People Kildare x. in E.E.P. (1862) 154 Þoȝ ȝur crune be ischave, fair beþ ȝur crokes [rime bokes]. c1325Poem Times Edw. II in Pol. Songs (Camden) 327 A myrour and a koeverchef to binde wid his crok [rime bitok]. a1400Morte Arth. 3352 Cho kembede myne heuede That the krispane kroke to my crownne raughte. [1721Bailey, Crok, the turning up of the hair into curls.]
c. A crooked or incurved piece of timber.
1802Naval Chron. VIII. 373 The..futtocks are all got from natural grown crooks. 1806Hull Advertiser 11 Jan. 2/2 Oak Timber, consisting of Knees and Crooks, peculiarly well adapted for Ship Building.
d. Bell-founding. (See quots.)
1857W. C. Lukis Acc. Ch. Bells 21 The crook is a kind of compass formed of wood, and is used for making the moulds. 1872Ellacombe Ch. Bells Devon i. 7 The core is first..moulded as described by the action of the crook.
6. A small space, or piece of ground, of a crooked shape; an odd corner, nook.
1417Searchers Verdicts in Surtees Misc. (1890) 11 A cruke of Robert Feriby grund. c1430Pilgr. Lyf Manhode i. lvi. (1869) 34 In sum anglet or in sum..crook or cornere. 1717N. Riding Rec. VIII. 23 Other small parts [of a farm] called crookes and crinkles. 1839–40W. Irving Wolfert's R. (1855) 33 It was full of nooks and crooks, and chambers of all sorts and sizes.
†7. pl. Brackets (in printing), parentheses. Obs. (Cf. crotchet 8.)
1641Milton Ch. Govt. i. (1851) 116 Though it be cunningly interpolisht..with crooks and emendations. 1762Sterne Tr. Shandy vi. xxxi, Among my father's papers, with here and there an insertion of his own, betwixt two crooks, thus [ ].
8. Musical Instr.
a. An accessory piece of curved tubing to be added to a metal wind instrument, as a horn or cornet, to lower the pitch, so as to adapt it to the key of the piece of music in which it is to be used.
b. The crooked metal tube connecting the body with the reed of a bassoon.
1842S. Lover Handy Andy xviii, The trumpeter..pulling out one crook from another. 1880Grove Dict. Mus. I. 150 [The bassoon] consists of five pieces..the crook, wing, butt, long joints, and bell. Ibid. I. 750 The difference of pitch [in the Horn] being provided by the various crooks.
9. A support or frame of wood, bent in a particular way, formerly slung in pairs panier-wise across the saddle of a pack-horse for carrying loads. (Somerset and Devon.)
1657R. Ligon Barbadoes (1673) 89 Small pack-saddles, and crooks..laying upon each Crook a faggot. c1710C. Fiennes Diary (1888) 225 Carryages on horses backes..with sort of crookes of wood like yokes either side..in which they stow y⊇ corne and so tie it with cords. 1791J. Collinson Hist. Somerset II. 34 The crops are..carried in with crooks on horses. 1850Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XI. ii. 739 The corn is often harvested in crooks on horses' backs. 1888Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. s.v., It used to be as common to say ‘I'll send a horse and crooks’ as it is now to say ‘horse and cart’. [They] are now very rarely seen.
10. a. The act of crooking; esp. a bending of the knee or of the body in sign of reverence (obs.).
c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 1816 Ffor-setten byfore, and eke byhynde, Wyþ crokes ilkon oþer gan bynde. 1603B. Jonson Sejanus i. i, He is now the court god; and well applied With sacrifice of knees, of crooks, and cringes. 1857Hughes Tom Brown i. iii, A well-aimed crook of the heel or thrust of the loin.
b. In polo, an act of crooking an opponent's stick (see crook v.1 6).
1935Times 18 June 5/5 Captain Ansell..scored with a 60 yards penalty given for a foul crook.
11. A bending or curve, a convolution, e.g. of a river, path, the intestines, etc.
1486Bk. St. Alban's E vij b, Of the nomblis..theys oder crokes and Roundulis bene. 1558T. Phaer æneid ii. (R.), Through lanes and crokes and darknes most we past. 1585James I Ess. Poesie (Arb.) 16 Sea eylis rare, that be Myle longs, in crawling cruikis of sixtie pace. 1609C. Butler Fem. Mon. v. (1623) M ij, Let it downe by a cord tied to some crooke of the bough. 1686Burnet Trav. v. (1750) 253 The Rhine maketh a Crook before it. 1885Harper's Mag. Mar. 594/1 Old homely ways, whose crooks..she knew by heart. 1887Stevenson Underwoods i. xiv. 29 The crooks of Tweed.
†12. fig. A crooked piece of conduct; a trick, artifice, wile; deceit, guile, trickery. Obs.
c1200Ormin 11635 Þa wære he þurrh þe deofless croc I gluternesse fallenn. a1225Leg. Kath. 125 Wið alle hise crefti crokes. a1300Cursor M. 740 (Cott.) Þe nedder..þat mast kan bath on crok and craft. 1393Gower Conf. III. 161 He soughte nought the worldes croke [rime boke] For veine honour ne for richesse. c1460Towneley Myst. 145 Withe sich wylys and crokes. a1556Cranmer To Gardiner (T.), For all your bragges, hookes, and crookes, you have such a fall. 1594Willobie Avisa 35 The wise will shunne such craftie crookes.
13. One whose conduct is crooked; a dishonest person, swindler, sharper. orig. U.S. colloq. Now esp. a professional criminal or an associate of criminals.
1879Chicago Tribune 6 Feb. 5/2 The Times still continues its attacks upon the Government officials in the interest of the Pekin and Peoria crooks. 1882Sydney Slang Dict. 3/1 Crook, a thief and burglar. One who gets his living on the best. 1886American Local Newspr., The photographs of several English cracksmen along with one of a New York crook. 1891H. Campbell Darkness & Daylight 470 Gamblers, pickpockets and other ‘crooks’ abound. 1891The Sun (N.Y.) 19 June 6/4 (Funk), The slang word ‘crook’ now bids fair to be recognized in the statutes and consequently to be adopted as good English in the courts of law. A bill regulating admissions to the prison at Marquette excludes, among other classes of individuals specified, those known to be ‘crooks’ in police parlance. 1896Westm. Gaz. 17 July 2/1 A crook what kep a little crib Dad went to when things was too lively. 1903Daily Chron. 3 Nov. 5/4 All the saloon-keepers, and gamblers, and crooks, and confidence men, in fact all the predatory elements of society are..working for a Tammany victory. 1909Ibid. 19 June 3/2 The people here..are clever and rather interesting scamps. Were they on a slightly lower social level they would be called ‘crooks’. 1949[see crookery]. 1953‘M. Innes’ Christmas at Candleshoe xiii. 150 ‘The fact is that a gang of crooks―’ ‘I beg your pardon?’ Miss Candleshoe is wholly at sea. ‘The fact is that a band of robbers is prowling about outside this house now.’
14. dial.
a. ‘The crick in the neck; a painful stiffness, the effect of cold’. Craven Gloss. 1828.
b. ‘A disease of sheep, whereby their heads are drawn on one side.’ Ibid.
15. Phrases.
a. † on crook, a-crook: crookedly, in a crooked course. Obs. on the crook: dishonestly. slang.
1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 53 Humber..renneþ first a crook out of þe south side of York. c1425Hampole's Psalter Metr. Pref. 38 Many out of bales browȝt, þt in lywyng went on croke. 1500–1881 [see acrook]. 1879Macm. Mag. 503 (Farmer) Which he had bought on the crook.
b. crook in one's lot: something untoward or distressing in one's experience: an affliction, trial. Sc.
a1732T. Boston (title), The Crook in the Lot; or the Wisdom and Sovereignty of God displayed in the afflictions of men. Ibid. (1767) 14 The crook in the lot is the special trial appointed for every one. 1818Scott Hrt. Midl. xii, I trust to bear even this crook in my lot with submission. 1835Mrs. Carlyle Lett. I. 32 It is positively a great crook in my present lot.
16. by hook or by crook: see hook.
B. adj.
1. a. [Arising probably from dissolution of the combinations crook-back, etc., in which crook- was perhaps originally the n., or the vb. stem; though it may have been shortened from crookt, crooked: cf. C b.] = crooked.
1508Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 275 Weil couth I claw his cruke bak. 1647H. More Insomn. Philos. xxiv, Interpreting right whatever seemed crook.
b. ‘Bent’, stolen. Criminals' slang.
1900Sessions' Paper Central Criminal Court CXXXII. 462, I brought it from you b― straight; I did not know it was crook.
2. Austral. and N.Z.
a. Of things: bad, inferior; out of order, unsatisfactory; unpleasant, dreadful.
1898Bulletin (Sydney) 17 Dec. Red Page/2, Krook or kronk is bad. 1915E. G. Pilling Anzac Memory (1933) iv. 62 Had a very crook night, sickness, cramp, dysentery. 1917E. Miller Camps, Tramps & Trenches (1939) ix. 52 The rifle issued to me was a crook one that fired high and left. 1918N.Z.E.F. Chrons. 5 July 250/2 It's crook to stay for years. 1929W. Smyth Girl from Mason Creek xv. 163 ‘Cow of a job,’ he muttered... ‘It's a bit crook for yer.’ 1931V. Palmer Separate Lives 271 It can't be helped now. When things go crook in the beginning [etc.]. 1934A. Russell Tramp-Royal in Wild Australia xvii. 106, I wasn't feeling too well at the time—too much crook water an' not enough decent tucker, I suppose. 1945J. Henderson Gunner Inglorious iii. 18 A cigarette first thing in the morning before a cup of tea, tastes crook. 1947‘A. P. Gaskell’ Big Game 32 Isn't it crook about Keith and Gordon [being killed]? 1958‘N. Shute’ Rainbow & Rose 64, I never knew it [sc. the weather] to be so crook. 1968K. Weatherly Roo Shooter 111 You know how the old wagon is crook in water.
b. Dishonest, unscrupulous, ‘crooked’.
1911L. Stone Jonah i. xi. 132 Yous don't think any worse o' me 'cause Lil's crook, do yer? 1916‘Anzac’ On Anzac Trail 44 Protesting..in lurid language against what they styled ‘a crook trick’. 1929C. C. Martindale Risen Sun 173 When sport goes crook, what can remain wholesome? 1933Bulletin (Sydney) 6 Sept. 8/2 They think..that the system is ‘crook’. 1936F. Sargeson Conversation with Uncle 18 They said it [sc. pulling a race-horse] was a crook business right through. 1953J. W. Brimblecombe in J. C. Reid Kiwi Laughs (1961) 178 His mentor had a crook deal put over him.
c. Irritable, bad-tempered, angry; esp. in phr. to go crook (at or on), to become angry (at); to lose one's temper (with); to upbraid, rebuke.
1911L. Stone Jonah ii. iv. 190 Yer niver 'ad no cause ter go crook on me, but I ain't complainin'. 1916C. J. Dennis Songs of Sentimental Bloke 78 An' there I'm standin' like a gawky lout..An' wonders wot 'e's goin' crook about. 1933P. Cadey Broken Pattern xviii. 197 If Phœbe's gone crook at you..she's had some good reason for it. 1937N. Marsh Vintage Murder vii. 70 See him when he goes crook!.. His eyes fairly flashed. 1946P. Freedman in Coast to Coast 1945 136 Her ma's always going crook because I break the plaster. 1959Listener 15 Jan. 115/2, I cut off his boot to stop the foot swelling. I remember he went crook on me: he said they were new, and I'd darn well have to buy him a new pair. 1964P. White Burnt Ones 295 When his mum went crook, and swore, he was too aware of teeth, the rotting brown of nastiness.
d. Ailing, out of sorts; injured, disabled.
1916C. J. Dennis Songs of Sentimental Bloke 88, I sneaks to bed, an' feels dead crook. 1916Oil Sheet Dec. 7 Now I've just been vaccinated, and am feeling pretty ‘crook’. 1934A. Russell Tramp-Royal in Wild Australia xxvii. 178 An' when Dick says he's crook, he's crook. He's out there alone, you know. 1937N. Marsh Vintage Murder viii. 94 Letting him out just because he kidded he felt crook. Ibid. x. 116 ‘He was looking horribly crook.’ ‘Ill?’ asked Alleyn cautiously. ‘Too right, sir.’ 1938‘R. Hyde’ Nor Years Condemn 208 A crook knee and arm. 1952N. Donnan in Coast to Coast 1951–52 141, I got a crook hip, I can't do heavy work now. 1956P. White Tree of Man 55 ‘She's crook. It looks like the milk fever,’ he said. 1960B. Crump Good Keen Man 45 It saves you from getting the crook guts, boy. Ibid. 49 He said he wasn't crook or anything. 1968K. Weatherly Roo Shooter 28 If I don't go out at least five nights a week the cook thinks I'm crook and gets all worried.
C. Comb., as crook-like adj.; crook-saddle, a saddle with crooks for carrying loads (cf. 9).
1700Acc. St. Sebastian's in Harl. Misc. I. 413 Their iron bars are brought to the town on horses or mules, on crook-saddles. 1797Statist. Acc. Scot. XIX. 248 (Stornoway) Horse-loads are..carried in small creels, one on each side of the horse, and fixed by a rope to the crook-saddle. 1888F. G. Lee in Archæol. LI. 356 A bishop or abbot holding a crook-like pastoral staff.
b. Parasynthetic combs., as crook-billed, crook-fingered, crook-kneed, crook-legged, crook-lipped, crook-nosed, crook-shouldered, crook-sided, crook-sterned, crook-toothed adjs. See also crook-back, -backed, crook-neck, -necked.
Crooked- was used in the same way from Wyclif onwards.
1580Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Bossu, downe backed, crooke shouldered. 1590Shakes. Mids. N. iv. i. 127 My hounds are..Crooke kneed, and dew-lapt, like Thessalian Buls. 1591Percivall Sp. Dict., Cancajoso, crooklegged. 1591Sylvester Du Bartas i. v. 515 Crook-tooth'd Lampreys. 1598Chapman Iliad ii. 684 The crooke-stern'd [ed. c 1611 crookt-stern'd] shippes. 1684tr. Bonet's Merc. Compit. ix. 334 Oftentimes Children about two years old, when they begin to go, are crook-legged. 1775S. Crisp in Mad. D'Arblay's Early Diary II. 36 Reduc'd to a level with crook-finger'd Jack!
▪ II. crook
var. of crock n.5
▪ III. crook, v.1|krʊk|
Forms: 3–6 croke, 4– crook(e, (6 croock).
[f. crook n.]
1. a. trans. To bend into an angular or curved form; to distort from a straight line; to curve.
c1175Lamb. Hom. 61 Gif he binimeð us ure sihte..oðer us crokeð on fote oðer on honde. 1382Wyclif Ps. lxviii. 24 The rig of hem euermor crooke thou in. 1398Trevisa Barth. de P.R. xviii. xix. (1495) 778 Whan camelles take charge vpon them thenne they bende and croke the knees. 1602Shakes. Ham. iii. ii. 66 And crooke the pregnant hindges of the knee. 1651Raleigh's Ghost 21 The star of Venus..crooking it self into hornes, as the moon doth. 1862T. Morrall Needle-making 23 Hardening needles in oil instead of water, as the oil did not crook them so much. 1875Blackmore A. Lorraine III. v. 69 The air was so full of rheumatism that no man could crook his arm to write a sermon.
†b. To curl (hair). Obs. rare.
1340Ayenb. 177 Þe men þet doþ zuo grat payne ham to kembe..and ine hare here wel to croki.
c. to crook one's mou' (Sc.): to distort the mouth in expression of displeasure or ill temper.
1724Ramsay Tea-t. Misc. (1733) I. 86 O kend my minny I were wi' you Illfardly wad she crook her mou. 1803Mayne Glasgow 31 (Jam.) They, scornfu', toss their head ajee, And crook their mou'.
d. to crook one's elbow or little finger: to drink alcoholic liquor (esp. with implication of excess). slang.
1825Jamieson Suppl. I. 271/2 To crook the elbow; as, She crooks her elbow, a phrase used of a woman who uses too much freedom with the bottle, q. bending her elbow in reaching the drink to her mouth. 1836Public Ledger (Philadelphia) 2 Aug. (Th.), William Martin was fined for, as he quaintly expressed it, crooking his little finger too often. 1859Bartlett Dict. Amer. (ed. 2) s.v., To crook one's elbow or one's little finger, is to tipple. 1875Besant & Rice With Harp & Crown xix, The secretary..might have done great things in literature but for his unfortunate crook of the elbow. As he only crooks it at night, it does not matter to the hospital. 1924J. Masefield Sard Harker iii. 251 Sir James has sacked his old man for crooking his little finger: going on the jag, in other words.
†2. fig. To bend or turn out of the straight course, or from the direct meaning or intention; to pervert, ‘twist’. Obs.
a1340Hampole Psalter lvi. 8 Þai crokid my saule: that is, thai thoght to draghe it fra the luf of god in til the erth. 1382Wyclif Ps. lvi. 7 Thei myche crookeden [incurvaverunt] my soule. 1393Gower Conf. II. 144 That she may..Ne speke o word, ne ones loke, But he ne wil it wende and croke, And torne after his own entent. 1545R. Ascham Toxoph. i. (Arb.) 58 There is no one thinge yat crokes youth more than suche unlefull games. 1607–12Bacon Ess., Wisdom (Arb.) 184 Hee crooketh them to his owne endes. 1646J. Gregory Notes & Obs. (1650) 83 The more part..crooke the Prophesie to the Patriarch Abraham.
3. intr. To have or take a crooked form or direction; to be or become crooked; to bend, curve.
a1300Song of Yesterday 98 in E.E.P. (1862) 135 Me meruayles..Þat god let mony mon croke and elde. 1398Trevisa Barth. de P.R. vi. i. (1495) 187 In olde aege the body bendyth and crokyth. c1510Barclay Mirr. Gd. Manners (1570) B vj, Soone crooketh the same tree that good camoke wilbe. 1579Fenton Guicciard. viii. (1599) 350 A riuer both large and deepe..goeth crooking on the left hand. 1661Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. 106 Their hornes crook backwards to their shoulders. 1876C. D. Warner Wint. Nile 240 Fingers that crook easily.
†4. intr. To bend the body in sign of reverence or humility; to bow. Obs. or arch.
c1320R. Brunne Medit. 149 He stode krokyng [v.r. croked] on knees knelyng Afore hys cretures fete syttyng. 1645Rutherford Tryal & Tri. Faith (1845) 312 That the Sinner may halt and crook. 1841–4Emerson Ess., Prudence Wks. (Bohn) I. 100 They will shuffle and crow, crook and hide.
†5. intr. To turn or bend aside out of the straight course (lit. and fig.). Obs.
c1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 230 He schal not croke in-to þe riȝtte side ne in-to þe left side. 1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 87/4 Goyng right without crokyng. 1545R. Ascham Toxoph. ii. (Arb.) 157 It [the snow] flewe not streight, but sometyme it crooked thys waye sometyme that waye. 1607Topsell Serpents (1653) 743 He must not run directly forward, but winde to and fro, crooking like an Indenture.
6. trans. In polo, to catch hold of (an opponent's stick) with one's own stick, so as to interfere with his play.
1890G. J. Younghusband Polo in India ii. 21 No player shall crook his adversary's stick unless he is on the same side of the pony as the ball, or immediately behind. 1898T. B. Drybrough Polo xi. 268 ‘Crooking’ means ‘interposing’ a stick between the ball and an adversary's stick..so as to ‘hook’ and arrest it. 1902Encycl. Brit. XXXI. 820/2 They have no off side [in American polo], and it is not permitted to crook the stick of an adversary.
▪ IV. † crook, v.2 Obs.
Forms: 4–7 crouk(e, 5 (9 dial.) crowk, 6–7 crooke.
[Echoic: cf. croak.
The phonetic relations between crouke, crowke, 17th c. crook, and mod. north dial. crowk are not clear.]
1. intr. To croak. Rarely trans.
a1325E.E. Allit. P. A. 459 He [the raven] croukez for comfort when carayne he fyndez. c1440Promp. Parv. 105 Crowken, as cranes, gruo. Crowken, as todes, or frosshes, coaxo. 14..Metr. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 623 A lytulle frogge crowkyt. 1607T. Walkington Opt. Glass 150 They crouke harshly. 1617Wither Fidelia, Fatall Ravens that..Crooke their black Auguries. 1878Cumbrld. Gloss., Crowk, to croak. ‘The guts crowk’ when the bowels make a rumbling noise.
2. To coo or crood, as a dove. Cf. crookle.
1586W. Webbe Eng. Poetrie (Arb.) 75 Neither..thy beloude Doues..Nor prettie Turtles trim, vvill cease to crooke. 1611Cotgr., Geindre..to crooe, crooke, or mourne as a doue. |