| 单词 | by hook or by crook |
| 释义 | > as lemmasby hook or by crook a. adverbial, †by cas, by chance, by force, by guess, by hook or by crook, by might; and others for which an adverb might easily be substituted, as by consequence, †by cover (= covertly), †by matter in deed (? = as an actual fact), by metaphor, †by name (= especially), †by occasion, †by particular, by stealth. [Here French has usually par.] See the various substantives. ΚΠ 1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. 490 He vel of is palefrey, & brec is fot bi cas. c1460 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Laud) l. 10700 Vow that is made by right Ow no man to breke by might. 1475 Bk. Noblesse 31 Provided that..no man take vitaile beforce. 1531 St. German's Secunde Dyaloge Doctour & Student (new ed.) liv. f. cxlvii Yt ys not alleged in the Indyctment by matter in dede that he had such wepon. 1544 T. Phaer Regim. Lyfe (1560) R vij Hitherto have I declined by occasion. 1565 in J. A. Picton City of Liverpool: Select. Munic. Rec. (1883) I. 113 That no..person..succour by cover or operte, any apprentice. 1583 P. Stubbes Second Pt. Anat. Abuses sig. D5v Either by hooke, or crooke, by night or day. a1586 Answ. Cartwright 17 He alleadgeth another proofe by peraduenture. 1604 G. Babington Comf. Notes: Exod. i. (Exod.) xvi. 263 This Manna followed the Israelites whatsoeuer the earth was: and by name in the wildernesse. 1620 J. Wilkinson Treat. Statutes conc. Coroners & Sherifes (new ed.) 117 These persons by particular are said to be by the statute rogues. 1660 T. Fuller Mixt Contempl. i. v. 8 Ponderous, and by Consequence probable to settle..on the Earth. 1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 145 Some prying Churl had..thence, By Stealth, convey'd th' unfeather'd Innocence. View more context for this quotation 1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 145. ⁋6 He snatches Kisses by Surprise. 1751 J. Jortin Serm. (1771) V. v. 90 They might not imagine that the world was..made by chance. 1836 W. S. Landor Pericles & Aspasia I. 224 I am not speaking by metaphor and asiatically. 1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 649 (note) I have therefore been forced to arrange them [the events] by guess. by hook or (also and) by crook P1. by hook or (also and) by crook, †with hook or crook.: by all or any means, fair or foul; by one device or another. Usually implying difficulty in attaining the thing sought, which may necessitate the use of special or extraordinary means.As to the origin of the phrase there is no evidence; although invention has been prolific of explanatory stories, most of them at variance with chronology. The Wycliffite quots. are of somewhat doubtful date, and may be later than that from Gower, which has hepe n. for ‘hook’. ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > advantage > usefulness > use (made of things) > instrumentality > by the instrumentality of [phrase] > by any means by hook or (also and) by crookc1380 in any casea1398 by some manner of means1580 at any rate1601 per fas et nefas1602 somehow or another1664 somehow or other1664 at all rates1667 c1380 J. Wyclif Wks. (1880) 250 Þei schulle bie hem wiþ pore mennus goodis wiþ hook or wiþ crok. c1383 J. Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 331 Þei sillen sacramentis..and compellen men to bie alle þis wiþ hok or crok. 1390 J. Gower Confessio Amantis II. 223 What with hepe and what with croke They [false Witness and Perjury] make her maister ofte winne.] a1529 J. Skelton Colyn Cloute (?1545) sig. D.vv Nor wyll suffre this boke By hoke ne by croke Prynted for to be. 1541 Schole House of Women sig. Dv So at length, by howche or by crowche, Lesse or more, euer they craue, Untyll the hande, be in thy pouche. 1551 R. Robinson tr. T. More Vtopia sig. Cviiv By one meanes therfore or by other, other by howke or crooke they must nedes departe awaye. 1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy i. ii. iii. xv. 179 Some..care not how they come by it, per fas & nefas, hooke or crooke, so they haue it. 1651 N. Bacon Contin. Hist. Disc. Govt. 116 Title enough for a great man that resolved to hold by hooke, what he had got by crooke. a1777 S. Foote Trip to Calais (1778) ii. 35 If you could put us in a way, by hook or by crook, to get her out of the convent. 1834 F. Marryat Peter Simple III. xiv. 186 If you can't gain it by hook, you must by crook. 1842 ‘G. Eliot’ in Life (1885) I. 112 Do come by hook or by crook. < as lemmas |
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