hook up

present singular third person hooks up · participle present hooking up · participle past hooked up · past hooked up

1. To hook something together.
   1. transitiveTo assemble the parts of a mechanism, especially by connecting wires.
   2. transitiveTo connect to something like a power supply or a signal source.

      The suspect was hooked up to a lie detector.

      1 more example

      An artificial kidney these days still means a refrigerator-sized dialysis machine. Such devices mimic[…]real kidneys[…]. But they are nothing like as efficient, and can cause bleeding, clotting and infection—not to mention inconvenience for patients, who typically need to be hooked up to one three times a week for hours at a time.

      2013 June 1, “A better waterworks”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 5 (Technology Quarterly)

2. To associate or socialize with someone.
   1. intransitiveslangTo form an association (with) someone.

      The last time Madonna was indisputably on point, she had hooked up with French producer Mirwais for Music (2000) and the sensuous possibilities of club culture.

      2019 June 8, Kitty Empire, “Madonna: Madame X review – a splendidly bizarre return to form”, in The Guardian

   2. slangtransitiveTo connect (someone) (with) another person.

      One site, PearPop.com, hooks TikTok or Instagram influencers up with fans to create duetted or stitched videos that fans pay for. This can be an effective way to build followers fast.⁹ Model Leah Svoboda added 120,000 followers after a PearPop duet with megainfluencer Anna Shumate.¹⁰

      2022, Brian Boxer Wachler, Influenced: The Impact of Social Media on Our Perception, Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, pages 186–187

   3. intransitiveslangTo have a casual sexual experience with another person, usually without any future relationship intended.

      You work out so you can increase your chances of hooking up. That means having the kind of physique that looks good in clothes and looks even better naked.

      2008, Nate Green, Built for Show, page 3

      1 more example

      Mr. Woo said a Grindr survey of its users found that two-thirds of them were using the application to find new friends, to network or to kill time, as well as to hook up.

      2013 March 10, Jenna Wortham, “How Grindr Is Changing the Way We Connect”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 14 Apr 2023

      Synonyms: do it, get laid, Netflix and chill, have sex, approach, cohabit, common, company

3. To sell or supply something.
   1. idiomaticslangTo supply someone with goods or services.

      That guy didn't get his ticket; can you hook him up for me?

   2. idiomaticslangTo deal drugs; to sell contraband.

      He's been hooking me up for years.

      1 more example

      Hey man, can you hook me up with some weed?

   3. idiomaticslangTo give a good deal for buying something; to give something for free or to give more than the recipient is entitled to.

      When you need a new car, come see me, I can hook you up with friend prices.