Definition

1. Noun:
   • A sharp barbed hook for catching fish: A "fishhook" is a curved piece of metal, sharpened at one end and often featuring a barb (a backward-pointing projection), designed specifically to catch fish by piercing and holding their mouth or body.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • He carefully baited the fishhook with a worm.
  • The old fishhook was rusty but still sharp.
  • Removing a fishhook from a fish's mouth requires care.

Advanced Usage

• "To swallow the fishhook": To be completely deceived or tricked; to accept a lie or scheme without suspicion. This is a metaphorical extension.
  • The scam was so convincing that he swallowed the fishhook completely.

Variants and Related Words

• Hook (noun): A curved piece of metal used for catching, holding, or pulling things. A "fishhook" is a specific type of hook.
• Barb (noun): The backward-pointing projection on a fishhook or arrow that prevents easy removal.
• Fishhook bend (noun): A specific type of sharp bend in a road or river, resembling the shape of a fishhook.

Synonyms

• Angle (archaic, as a noun): A fishhook.
• Fish hook (noun): An alternative spelling.

Related Phrases

• "Get off the hook": To escape from a difficult situation or avoid blame. While this idiom uses "hook" generally, its origin is related to a fish escaping a fishhook.
  • Thanks to the new evidence, the suspect got off the hook.

Related Idioms

• "By hook or by crook": By any means necessary, fair or unfair. The "hook" in this idiom historically referred to tools like a shepherd's crook or possibly a hook for gathering firewood, not directly a fishhook, but the imagery is related.
  • He was determined to win the contract by hook or by crook.

Noun

1. a sharp barbed hook for catching fish