Word Study
rook
CIDE DICTIONARY
rook, n.
Mist; fog. See Roke. [1913 Webster]
rook, v. i.
To squat; to ruck. Shak. [1913 Webster]
rook, n. [F. roc (cf. Sp. roque), fr. Per. & Ar. rokh, or rukh, the rook or castle at chess, also the bird roc (in this sense perhaps a different word); cf. Hind. rath a war chariot, the castle at chess, Skr. ratha a car, a war car. Cf. Roll.].
One of the four pieces placed on the corner squares of the board; a castle. [1913 Webster]
rook, n. [AS. hr; akin to OHG. hruoh, ruoh, ruoho, Icel. hr, Sw. roka, Dan. raage; cf. Goth. hrukjan to crow.].
- A European bird (
Corvus frugilegus ) resembling the crow, but smaller. It is black, with purple and violet reflections. The base of the beak and the region around it are covered with a rough, scabrous skin, which in old birds is whitish. It is gregarious in its habits. The name is also applied to related Asiatic species. [1913 Webster]"The rook . . . should be treated as the farmer's friend." [1913 Webster] - A trickish, rapacious fellow; a cheat; a sharper. Wycherley. [1913 Webster]
rook, v. t. & i.
To cheat; to defraud by cheating. Milton. [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
rook, n. & v.
--n.
1 a black European and Asiatic bird, Corvus frugilegus, of the crow family, nesting in colonies in tree-tops.
2 a sharper, esp. at dice or cards; a person who lives off inexperienced gamblers etc.
--v.tr.
1 charge (a customer) extortionately.
2 win money from (a person) at cards etc. esp. by swindling.
--n.
1 a black European and Asiatic bird, Corvus frugilegus, of the crow family, nesting in colonies in tree-tops.
2 a sharper, esp. at dice or cards; a person who lives off inexperienced gamblers etc.
--v.tr.
1 charge (a customer) extortionately.
2 win money from (a person) at cards etc. esp. by swindling.
rook, n. a chess piece with its top in the shape of a battlement.
Etymology
ME f. OF roc(k) ult. f. Arab. rukk, orig. sense uncert.
THESAURUS
rook
beat, beguile of, bilk, bishop, bleed, bunco, burn, castle, cheat, chessman, chisel, chouse, chouse out of, cog, cog the dice, con, cozen, crib, defraud, diddle, do in, do out of, euchre, finagle, flam, fleece, flimflam, fob, fudge, gouge, gull, gyp, have, hocus, hocus-pocus, king, knight, man, milk, mulct, pack the deal, pawn, piece, pigeon, practice fraud upon, queen, scam, screw, sell gold bricks, shave, shortchange, stack the cards, stick, sting, sweat, swindle, take a dive, thimblerig, throw a fight, victimizeROGET THESAURUS
rook
Stealing
VB steal, thieve, rob, mug, purloin, pilfer, filch, prig, bag, nim, crib, cabbage, palm, abstract, appropriate, plagiarize, convey away, carry off, abduct, kidnap, crimp, make off with, walk off with, run off with, run away with, spirit away, seize, plunder, pillage, rifle, sack, loot, ransack, spoil, spoliate, despoil, strip, sweep, gut, forage, levy blackmail, pirate, pickeer, maraud, lift cattle, poach, smuggle, run, badger, bail up, hold up, stick up, bunco, bunko, filibuster, swindle, peculate, embezzle, sponge, mulct, rook, bilk, pluck, pigeon, fleece, defraud, obtain under false pretenses, live by one's wits, rob Peter to pay Paul, borrow of Peter to pay Paul, set a thief to catch a thief, disregard the distinction between meum and tuum, fence, launder, launder money.Thief
N thief, robber, homo triumliterarum, pilferer, rifler, filcher, plagiarist, spoiler, depredator, pillager, marauder, harpy, shark, land shark, falcon, mosstrooper, bushranger, Bedouin, brigand, freebooter, bandit, thug, dacoit, pirate, corsair, viking, Paul Jones, buccaneer, buccanier, piqueerer, pickeerer, rover, ranger, privateer, filibuster, rapparee, wrecker, picaroon, smuggler, poacher, abductor, badger, bunko man, cattle thief, chor, contrabandist, crook, hawk, holdup man, hold-up, jackleg, kidnaper, rustler, cattle rustler, sandbagger, sea king, skin, sneak thief, spieler, strong-arm man, highwayman, Dick Turpin, Claude Duval, Macheath, footpad, sturdy beggar, cut purse, pick purse, pickpocket, light-fingered gentry, sharper, card sharper, skittle sharper, thimblerigger, rook, Greek, blackleg, leg, welsher, defaulter, Autolycus, Jeremy Diddler, Robert Macaire, artful dodger, trickster, swell mob, chevalier d'industrie, shoplifter, swindler, peculator, forger, coiner, fence, receiver of stolen goods, duffer, smasher, burglar, housebreaker, cracksman, magsman, Bill Sikes, Jack Sheppard, Jonathan Wild, gang, gang of thieves, theft ring, organized crime, mafia, the Sicilian Mafia, the mob, la cosa nostra, Dillinger, Al Capone, Robin Hood.For further exploring for "rook" in Webster Dictionary Online
