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   crook

   /krʊk/

   noun

   • 1. the hooked staff of a shepherd: "seizing his crook from behind the door, he set off to call his dogs"
   • ▪ a bishop's crozier.
   • ▪ a bend in something, especially at the elbow in a person's arm: "her head was cradled in the crook of Luke's left arm" Similar bendcurvecurvaturekinkbowelbowangleforkintersectiontechnical:flexure
   • ▪ a piece of extra tubing which can be fitted to a brass instrument to lower the pitch by a set interval.
   • 2. a person who is dishonest or a criminal: informal "the man's a crook, he's not to be trusted" Similar criminallawbreakeroffendervillainblack hatdelinquentmalefactorculpritwrongdoertransgressorsinneryoung offenderjuvenile delinquentfelonthiefrobberarmed robberburglarhousebreakershopliftermuggerfraudsterconfidence tricksterswindlerracketeergunmangangsteroutlawbanditterroristrapistyakuzaholdupperinformal:conjailbird(old) lagliferbaddiesharkcon mancon artisthustlercrimyardbirdyegglightytiefrhyming slang:tea leafinformal, dated:cracksmanmalfeasantmisfeasorinfractorarchaic:miscreanttrespassertrustytransportrare:peculatordefalcatorOpposite law-abiding citizen

   verb

   • 1. bend (something, especially a finger as a signal): "he crooked a finger for the waitress"

   adjective

   • 1. bad, unpleasant, or unsatisfactory: informal Australian, New Zealand "it was pretty crook on the land in the early 1970s"
   • ▪ (of a person or a part of the body) unwell or injured: informal Australian, New Zealand "a crook knee"
   • ▪ dishonest; illegal: informal Australian, New Zealand "some pretty crook things went on there"

   Word Origin Middle English (in the sense ‘hooked tool or weapon’): from Old Norse krókr ‘hook’. A noun sense ‘deceit, guile, trickery’ (compare with crooked) was recorded in Middle English but was obsolete by the 17th century The Australian senses are abbreviations of crooked.

   Derivatives

   • 1. crookery noun

   Scrabble Points: 11

   • C

     3

   • R

     1

   • O

     1

   • O

     1

   • K

     5

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