by hook or crook

Idioms and Phrases

By any means possible, in one way or another. For example, The car broke down, but I'll get there by hook or crook . This term has a disputed origin. A widely held theory is that it comes from the custom of allowing commoners to take as much wood from royal forests as they could reach with a shepherd's crook and cut down with a billhook. [1300s] Also see the synonym by any means .

Example Sentences

And Jack Smith knows that by hook or crook, Trump will try to get those false stories before a jury.

From Slate

By hook or crook, she was going to see Beyoncé.

From Washington Post

In a jukebox musical set to songs by the pop whisperer Max Martin, May is obviously going to sing, by hook or crook, Britney Spears’s “I’m Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman” while pondering exactly where on the gender spectrum feels right.

From New York Times

It was the last-chance opportunity for Donald Trump to remain president, by hook or crook.

From Salon

"I wanted to go back but I didn't want to be seen as a failure. I thought, 'I'm a determined young man, I want to succeed by hook or crook in this country,' and that carried me."

From BBC

Related Words

• anyway