Intj. (Oxford Univ.).—An expression implying doubt. [Query from the note of interrogation (?) or connected with Hookey Walker (q.v.).]
On the hook, subs. phr. (common).—1. On the thieve; on the cross (q.v.).
2. (old).—On the Hip (q.v.); at an advantage.
1694. Congreve, Double Dealer, iv., 18. Consider I have you on the hook; you will but flounder yourself a-weary, and be nevertheless my prisoner.
Hook and eye, subs. phr. (tailors’).—Arm in arm.
To take (or sling) one’s hook (or to hook it), verb. phr. (common).—To decamp; to run away. For synonyms, see Amputate and Skedaddle. [[342]]
1851–61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, ii., 137. He slipped from her and hooked it.
1852. Dickens, Bleak House, ch. xlvi. ‘Hook it! Nobody wants you here,’ he ses. ‘You Hook it. You go and tramp,’ he ses.
1856. Bradley [Cuthbert Bede], Tales of College Life, p. 36. Hook it! old ’un, hook it!
1861. H. Kingsley, Ravenshoe, ch. xli. They all begins to get a bit noisy and want to fight, and so I hooked it.