Meanings
plural fishhooks · alternative fish hook · alternative fish-hook
- A barbed hook, usually metal, used for fishing.
Others sprint off and take position — their jackal ears fully erect, their fishhook tails twitching like flags in a stiff wind.
2013 July 15, Jack Hitt, “DNA Backs Lore on Pre-Columbian Dogs”, in The New York Times1 more example
The two basic types of fishhooks are almost equally represented within the site, with composite fishhooks exhibiting only a slightly higher relative frequency than that of bentwoods.
1980, Dale R. Croes, Eric Blinman, editors, Hoko River: A 2500 Year Old Fishing Camp on the Northwest Coast of North America (Reports of Investigations (Washington State University. Laboratory of Anthropology); 58), Pullman, Wash.: Laboratory of Anthropology, Washington State University, →OCLC, page 141Synonyms: angle, fishing hook, hook
- slangcard gamesA jack (type of playing card).
present singular third person fishhooks · participle present fishhooking · participle past fishhooked · past fishhooked · alternative fish hook · alternative fish-hook
- transitiveTo impale with a fishhook.
- intransitiveTo bend back on itself like a fishhook.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA barbed hook, usually metal, used for fishing.
Origin
- Old English*fischōc“fishhook”
- Middle Englishfisch-hook
- Englishfishhook
From Middle English fisch-hook, from Old English *fischōc (“fishhook”), equivalent to fish + hook. Cognate with Dutch vishaak (“fishhook”). In the sense of a jack (playing card), refers to the shape of the letter J on the card.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἄγκιστρον
- ἄγκιστρον (ánkistron)barbed hook for fishing
Arabic صِنَّارَة, خَطَّاف
- صِنَّارَة (ṣinnāra)barbed hook for fishing
- خَطَّاف (ḵaṭṭāf)barbed hook for fishing
Basque amu
- amubarbed hook for fishing
Bulgarian ку́ка
- ку́ка (kúka)barbed hook for fishing
Catalan ham
- hambarbed hook for fishing
Chinese Mandarin 釣鉤 /钓钩, 魚鉤 /鱼钩
- 釣鉤 /钓钩 (diàogōu)barbed hook for fishing
- 魚鉤 /鱼钩 (yúgōu)barbed hook for fishing
Czech háček
- háčekbarbed hook for fishing
Danish fiskekrog, krog
- fiskekrogbarbed hook for fishing
- krogbarbed hook for fishing
Dutch vishaak, haak
- vishaakbarbed hook for fishing
- haakbarbed hook for fishing
Esperanto fiŝhoko
- fiŝhokobarbed hook for fishing
Finnish ongenkoukku, koukku
- ongenkoukkubarbed hook for fishing
- koukkubarbed hook for fishing
French hameçon
- hameçonbarbed hook for fishing
German Angelhaken, Haken
- Angelhakenbarbed hook for fishing
- Hakenbarbed hook for fishing
Greek αγκίστρι
- αγκίστρι (agkístri)barbed hook for fishing
Hawaiian makau
- makaubarbed hook for fishing
Hebrew קֶרֶס
- קֶרֶסbarbed hook for fishing
Hungarian horog
- horogbarbed hook for fishing
Indonesian mata kail
- mata kailbarbed hook for fishing
Irish duán
- duánbarbed hook for fishing
Italian amo
- amobarbed hook for fishing
Japanese 釣り針, 釣り鉤
- 釣り針 (tsuribari)barbed hook for fishing
- 釣り鉤 (tsuribari)barbed hook for fishing
Korean 낚시, 낚싯바늘
- 낚시 (naksi)barbed hook for fishing
- 낚싯바늘 (naksitbaneul)barbed hook for fishing
Latin hāmus
- hāmusbarbed hook for fishing
Latvian āķis
- āķisbarbed hook for fishing
Lithuanian kabliukas, vąšelis
- kabliukasbarbed hook for fishing
- vąšelisbarbed hook for fishing
Malay mata kail
- mata kailbarbed hook for fishing
Māori pohau, matau
- pohaubarbed hook for fishing
- mataubarbed hook for fishing
- makabarbed hook for fishing
Norwegian Bokmål angel, fiskekrok
- angelbarbed hook for fishing
- fiskekrokbarbed hook for fishing
Persian قلاب ماهیگیری
- قلاب ماهیگیری (qollâb mâhigiri)barbed hook for fishing
Polish haczyk wędkarski
- haczyk wędkarskibarbed hook for fishing
Portuguese anzol
- anzolbarbed hook for fishing
Romanian cârlig
- cârligbarbed hook for fishing
Russian рыболо́вный крючо́к, крючо́к
- рыболо́вный крючо́к (rybolóvnyj krjučók)barbed hook for fishing
- крючо́к (krjučók)barbed hook for fishing
Scottish Gaelic dubhan-iasgaich, dubhan
- dubhan-iasgaichbarbed hook for fishing
- dubhanbarbed hook for fishing
Slovak háčik
- háčikbarbed hook for fishing
Spanish hamo, anzuelo
- hamobarbed hook for fishing
- anzuelobarbed hook for fishing
Swedish fiskekrok, krok
- fiskekrokbarbed hook for fishing
- krokbarbed hook for fishing
Tagalog bingwit
- bingwitbarbed hook for fishing
Thai เบ็ด, เบ็ดตกปลา
- เบ็ด (bèt)barbed hook for fishing
- เบ็ดตกปลาbarbed hook for fishing
Ukrainian га́чок
- га́чок (háčok)barbed hook for fishing
Vietnamese lưỡi câu, móc câu
- lưỡi câubarbed hook for fishing
- móc câubarbed hook for fishing
Welsh bach
- bachbarbed hook for fishing
Cite this entry
fishhook. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fishhook
“fishhook.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fishhook. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fishhook,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fishhook.
Source: fishhook on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.