hooker
hooker Lexical Profile
hooker Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A person who engages in sex work in exchange for money; a prostitute (informal or slang).
"The gritty crime drama followed a detective interviewing witnesses and streetwalkers along the docks."
The player positioned in the middle of the front row of the scrum who uses their feet to hook the ball backward (in rugby).
"The team's starting hooker threw the ball accurately into the lineout during the second half of the match."
A traditional one-masted fishing boat used especially along the western coast of Ireland, or historically a two-masted Dutch merchant vessel.
"Several restored wooden Galway hookers sailed across the bay during the annual maritime festival."
A person or device that hooks, catches, or fastens things with a hook, such as a worker who attaches logs to a cable in logging.
"The logging crew waited for the hooker to secure the heavy timber to the winch line."
Word Nuance & Usage
While widely used as informal or derogatory slang for a sex worker, 'hooker' is a standard, completely neutral technical term in rugby union and rugby league for the central forward in the front row of the scrum.
• Rhymes for hooker
Word Origin & Etymology
Formed from the verb 'hook' plus the agent suffix '-er'; the nautical sense referring to a small fishing vessel was borrowed in the 17th century from Dutch 'hoeker', from 'hoek' (hook).