- (informal)
a dishonest person 骗子 That salesman is a real crook. 那推销员真是个骗子。 The film portrays a world of small-time crooks, petty crime and drinking clubs. 那部电影描绘的世界里有不高明的骗子、不严重的犯罪和饮酒俱乐部。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- small-time
- corporate
- catch
- crook of your arm/elbow
the place where your arm bends at the elbow 臂弯；肘弯 He was carrying a gun in the crook of his arm. 他腋下夹着一把枪。
a long stick with a hook (= a curved part) at one end, used by shepherds for catching sheep （尤指旧时牧羊人捕羊用的）曲柄杖
Word OriginMiddle English (in the sense ‘hooked tool or weapon’): from Old Norse krókr ‘hook’. A noun sense ‘deceit, guile, trickery’ (compare with crooked) was recorded in Middle English but was obsolete by the 17th cent. The Australian senses are abbreviations of crooked.
Idioms
by hook or by crook
using any method you can, even a dishonest one 想方设法；不择手段