Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Rook
Rook
,Verb.
I.
To squat; to ruck.
[Obs.]
Shak.
Rook
,Noun.
[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
.] (Chess)
One of the four pieces placed on the corner squares of the board; a castle.
Rook
,Noun.
[AS.
hrōc
; akin to OHG. hruoh
, ruoh
, ruoho
, Icel. hrōkr
, Sw. roka
, Dan. raage; cf. Goth. hrukjan
to crow.] 1.
(Zool.)
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
,Verb.
T.
& I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Rooked
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Rooking
.] To cheat; to defraud by cheating.
“A band of rooking officials.” Milton.
Webster 1828 Edition
Rook
ROOK
,Noun.
1.
A fowl of the genus Corvus, the fowl mentioned by Virgil under this name. This fowl resembles the crow, but differs from it in not feeding on carrion, but on insects and grain. In crows also the nostrils and root of the bill are clothed with feathers, but in rooks the same parts are naked, or have only a few bristly hairs. The rook is gregarious.2.
A cheat; a trickish, rapacious fellow.ROOK
,Noun.
ROOK
,Verb.
I.
ROOK
,Verb.
T.