crooked adj

1 having or marked by bends or angles; not straight or aligned; "crooked country roads"; "crooked teeth" [ant: straight]

2 not straight; dishonest or immoral or evasive [syn: corrupt] [ant: straight]

3 irregular in shape or outline; "asymmetrical features"; "a dress with an crooked hemline" [syn: asymmetrical]

4 having the back and shoulders rounded; not erect; "a little oldish misshapen stooping woman" [syn: hunched, round-backed, round-shouldered, stooped, stooping]

English

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• Verb form: , /krʊkt/, /krUkt/

Verb

crooked

1. past of crook

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• Adjective: , /ˈkrʊkɪd/, /"krUkId/
• pronunciation refers to adjective form.

Adjective

1. Not straight; having one or more bends or angles.

   We walked up the crooked path to the top of the hill.

2. Set at an angle; not vertical or square.

   That picture is crooked - could you straighten it up for me?

3. Dishonest or illegal.

   He was trying to interest me in another one of his crooked deals.

Translations

• Crooking is a verb to refer to the action of creating a bend or curve; for example, crooking a finger. Hence a crook may be anything that is crooked.
  • Specifically, a crook is a tool with a crook in it, such as a shepherd's staff, prelate's crosier, or used in securing a layed Devon hedge; see also flail and crook.
  • In music, a crook is a length of tubing used to change the pitch of a natural brass instrument. Musicians who play the natural (French) horn or natural trumpet (the predecessors to the modern (French) horn and trumpet) insert crooks into the instrument to change its length and, hence, its pitch. A crook is also the term for a bent or curved pipe that connects the reed to the instrument body on some double reed instruments; in American usage this is generally called a bocal.
• Crook, a slang term for a criminal or a person of questionable morality. Specifically it refers to someone who is corrupt and uses dishonest or unethical tactics to gain money. The adjective crooked can refer to such persons or actions. This version of the term may also be archaically used as a verb in reference to becoming a criminal or causing another to become a criminal.
• Biblically, "crooked" meant "twisted", "corrupt", or "not straight".
• Crooked Music (Schräge Musik) was a very effective firing system developed by the Germans in World War II which allowed their fighter aircraft to shoot down Allied bombers.
• In Australian slang, crook (adjective) means unwell (amongst other meanings).

Places

• Crook, County Durham, England
• Crook, Cumbria, England
• Crook, Devon, England
• Crook, Crook of Devon, Scotland
• Crook, Colorado, United States
• Crook County, Oregon, United States

Persons

• Ann Marie Crooks, a female bodybuilder and professional wrestler
• George Crook, an American general
• Mackenzie Crook, a British actor
• William Crookes, English chemist

Things

• Crook can refer to the crozier carried by a bishop or abbot
• Shepherd's staff

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