hookup

[ hook-uhp ]

noun

1. an act or instance of hooking up.
2. an assembly and connection of parts, components, or apparatus into a circuit, network, machine, or system.
3. the circuit, network, machine, or system so formed.
4. a device or connection, as a plug, hose, or pipe, for conveying electricity, a water supply, etc., from a source to a user:

   Some campsites have electrical hookups for trailers.

5. Informal. an association, alliance, or cooperative effort:

   A closer hookup of Caribbean nations would be good for international trade.

6. Informal.
   1. a sexual encounter without a long-term commitment:

      I’m over these college boys who are only interested in meaningless hookups.

   2. a person with whom one has such an encounter:

      I ran into an old hookup at the club, but I pretended not to remember her.

7. Slang.
   1. a supplier of illicit goods, usually drugs:

      My hookup is getting out of the game—can you introduce me to your guy?

   2. access to illegal drugs:

      When you are trying to score on the street it is easy to see who has the hookup.

Word History and Origins

Origin of hookup¹

An Americanism dating back to 1900–05; noun use of verb phrase hook up

Example Sentences

The couple also added a pullout sofa in the living room and RV hookups in the backyard, hoping to accommodate more friends and family.

From Los Angeles Times

“But the challenge that’s been identified more of lately is that last facility hookup, making sure that the facilities either have the substations, the circuits, the transformers and the time it takes to process that.”

From Los Angeles Times

Most people alive today carry traces of genes inherited from Neanderthals—the enduring legacy of prehistoric hookups with our extinct cousins.

From Science Magazine

The ads seem to be addressing a growing cultural dating trend where people, mostly young women, are engaging in voluntary celibacy, citing disillusionment with online dating and hookup culture.

From Salon

Lawmakers’ original proposed fix would have been unprecedented in the country and required PSE to stop offering new commercial and residential natural gas hookups.

From Seattle Times

Related Words

• connection
• interconnection
• linkage