rook Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun (chess) the piece that can move any number of unoccupied squares in a direction parallel to the sides of the chessboard
    castle.
  2. noun common gregarious Old World bird about the size and color of the American crow
    Corvus frugilegus.
  3. verb deprive of by deceit
    scam; gip; nobble; goldbrick; con; short-change; mulct; gyp; bunco; victimize; hornswoggle; diddle; defraud; swindle.
    • He swindled me out of my inheritance
    • She defrauded the customers who trusted her
    • the cashier gypped me when he gave me too little change

WordNet

Rook noun
Definitions
  1. Mist; fog. See Roke. Obs.
Rook intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To squat; to ruck. Obs. Shak.
Rook noun
Etymology
F. roc (cf. Sp. roque), fr. Per. & Ar. rokh, or rukh, the rook or castle at chess, also the bird roc (in this sense pehaps a different word); cf. Hind. rath a war chariot, the castle at chess, Skr. ratha a car, a war car. Cf. Roll.
Definitions
  1. (Chess) One of the four pieces placed on the corner squares of the board; a castle.
Rook noun
Etymology
AS. hrc; akin to OHG. hruoh, ruoh, ruoho, Icel. hrkr, Sw. roka, Dan. raage; cf. Goth. hrukjan to crow.
Definitions
  1. (Zoöl.) 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.
    The rook . . . should be treated as the farmer's friend. Pennant.
  2. A trickish, rapacious fellow; a cheat; a sharper. Wycherley.
Rook transitive verb & intransitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Rooked ; present participle & verbal noun Rooking
Definitions
  1. To cheat; to defraud by cheating. "A band of rooking officials." Milton.

Webster 1913