Hook  

From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

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A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved or indented, such that it can be used to grab onto, connect, or otherwise attach itself onto another object. In a number of uses, one end of the hook is pointed, so that this end can pierce another material, which is then held by the curved or indented portion. Some kinds of hooks, particularly fish hooks, also have a barb, a backwards-pointed projection near the pointed end of the hook to ensure that once the hook is embedded in its target, it can not easily be removed.

Variations

• Bagging hook, a large sickle or reaping hook used for harvesting grain
• Bondage hook, used in sexual bondage play
• Cabin hook, a hooked bar that engages into an eye screw, used on doors
• Cap hook, hat ornament of the 15th and 16th centuries
• Cargo hook (helicopter), different types of hook systems for helicopters
• Crochet hook, used for crocheting thread or yarn
• Drapery hook, for hanging drapery
• Dress hook, fashion accessory
• Ear hook, to attach earrings
• Fish hook, used to catch fish
• Flesh-hook, used in cooking meat
• Grappling hook, a hook attached to a rope, designed to be thrown and snagged on a target
• Hook and chain coupler
• Hook (hand tool), also known as longshoreman's hook and bale hook, a tool used for securing and moving loads
• Hook-and-eye closure, a clothing fastener
• Hook and loop fastener
• Lifting hook, for grabbing and lifting loads
• Mail hook, for grabbing mail bags without stopping a train
• Meat hook, for hanging up meat or carcasses of animals in butcheries and meat industry
• Prosthetic hook or transradial prosthesis, part of a prosthetic arm for amputees
• Purse hook, used to keep a woman's purse from touching the floor
• Shepherd's hook, a staff used in herding sheep or other animals
• Siege hook, an Ancient Roman weapon used to pull stones from a wall during a siege
• Tailhook, used by aircraft to snag cables in order to slow down more quickly