crook

Seemingly, all the children of the Valley are being shuttled by their parents toward Stanford, where they will matriculate by hook or by crook.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 12, 2026

Elizabeth was originally depicted as a shepherdess with a crook and a lamb.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 4, 2026

It was late, and the store was out of disposable bags, so I tucked some of the loot into my dance bag and cradled the rest in the crook of my arm.

From Salon ● Jan. 1, 2026

Hemlock is a small town located in the crook of the Michigan mitten, between the thumb and the fingers.

From Barron's ● Nov. 7, 2025

I shrugged, and drew a second giraffe with a dramatic, Z-shaped crook to its neck.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

"Those were all written for a TV show, for something that was not for me, so Fantasize comes out, crazy, was stolen... These pirates, crooks, illegal!"

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

“I mean, they need to be able to do that. But they just, you know, they need to pay more attention to the crooks than people trying to make an honest living.”

From Salon ● Jun. 2, 2026

The 20th-century culture business produced “profound” popular art even though its contracts were exploitative beyond the dreams of neoliberalism and its middlemen were often crooks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 5, 2025

An enthusiasm for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is one thing that apparently unites Harvard, the Trump family, Wall Street hedge funds and outright crooks in places like Russia.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 18, 2025

There are freshmen battling with shepherds’ crooks from the prop table, which—I’m not going to lie—look exactly like the old-timey hooks from Simon’s nightmares.

From "Leah on the Offbeat" by Becky Albertalli

Seeing no evil are legions of crooked operators — customs inspectors, tax agents, military commanders, among other enablers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026

In 2019, the IRS told Murrin she owed unpaid tax, penalties and interest for income-tax returns the crooked accountant filed from 1993 to 1999.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 25, 2026

"They're crooked," he continued, "just like you're crooked."

From BBC ● Jun. 7, 2026

I often stood crooked or perched on things to avoid sticking out.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026

Goodness, the crooked stairway is a musical scale of a most unfortunate melody.

From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin

Short as trees go, it has a hunkered-down look, its branches starting low to the ground and crooking and knotting as they rise.

From New York Times ● May 10, 2021

Bransfield summoned him out of classes, sometimes by knocking on the classroom door and beckoning him by crooking his finger, he told The Post.

From Washington Post ● Nov. 29, 2019

He was having an almost violently good time, it appeared, kissing women on the cheek, crooking his arm around his friends’ necks.

From The New Yorker ● Jun. 24, 2019

So police officers, crooking a single finger, have ordered scores of drivers to the curb for breaking the law and issued them a fine for $130.

From New York Times ● Feb. 3, 2012

“Owooo!” wailed Arm, crooking his legs and advancing on the villagers like a giant spider.

From "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer