• IPA: /ɹʊk/
• (sometimes in Northern England; otherwise obsolete) IPA: /ɹuːk/
• (Scotland, NI) IPA: /ɹʉk/

• Inherited from Middle English rok, roke, from Old English hrōc, from Proto-West Germanic *hrōk, from Proto-Germanic *hrōkaz (compare Old Norse hrókr, Saterland Frisian Rouk, Dutch roek, obsolete German Ruch), from Proto-Indo-European *kerk- (compare Old Irish cerc, Prussian kerko, dialectal Bulgarian кро́кон, Ancient Greek κόραξ, xcl ագռաւ, Avestan 𐬐𐬀𐬵𐬭𐬐𐬀𐬙𐬀𐬝, Sanskrit कृकर), Ukrainian крук.
• (parson) Probably from the resemblance in plumage to a parson's garments.

rook

1. A European bird, Corvus frugilegus, of the crow family.
   • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC ↗, Canto XV, page 24 ↗:

     To-night the winds begin to rise
     ⁠And roar from yonder dropping day:
     ⁠The last red leaf is whirl’d away,
     The rooks are blown about the skies; […]

2. A cheat or swindler; someone who betrays.

   Synonyms: Thesaurus:deceiver, Thesaurus:fraudster

   • 7 April 1705, William Wycherley, Letter to Alexander Pope in The Works of Alexander Pope 36 ↗:

     So I am (like an old rook, who is ruined by gaming) forced to live on the good fortune of the pushing young men, whose fancies are so vigorous that they ensure their success in their adventures with Muses, by their strength and imagination.

3. A bad deal; a rip-off.
4. (British) A type of firecracker used by farmers to scare birds of the same name.
5. (uncountable) A trick-taking game, usually played with a specialized deck of cards.
6. (slang, archaic) A parson.

• French: corbeau freux, freux
• German: Saatkrähe
• Italian: corvo comune
• Portuguese: gralha-calva, frouva, cornelha
• Russian: грач
• Spanish: graja, grajo

• German: Schwindler, Schwindlerin, Betrüger, Betrügerin, Gauner, Gaunerin
• Russian: жу́лик

rook (rooks, present participle rooking; simple past and past participle rooked)

1. (transitive) To cheat or swindle.
   • 1974, GB Edwards, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, New York, published 2007, page 311:

     Some had spent a week in Jersey before coming to Guernsey; and, from what Paddy had heard, they really do know how to rook the visitors over there.

• (cheat) cheat, con, do, dupe, have, swindle, trick

• French: rouler
• German: schwindeln, betrügen, übers Ohr hauen (idiomatic), lügen, hintergehen, falsch spielen (idiomatic), hinters Licht führen (idiomatic), ergaunern, abgaunern
• Italian: imbrogliare
• Portuguese: enganar
• Russian: обма́нывать

rook (plural rooks)

1. (chess) A piece shaped like a castle tower, that can be moved only up, down, left or right (but not diagonally) or in castling.
2. (rare) A castle or other fortification.

• (chesspiece) castle
• (castle) castle, fortress

• French: tour
• German: Turm
• Italian: rocco, torre
• Portuguese: torre
• Russian: ладья́
• Spanish: torre, roque

• German: Festung, Burg
• Italian: rocca
• Portuguese: fortificação
• Russian: кре́пость
• Spanish: baluarte, bastión

From rookie.

rook (plural rooks)

1. (baseball, slang) A rookie.

rook (uncountable)

1. mist; fog; roke

rook (rooks, present participle rooking; simple past and past participle rooked)

1. (obsolete) To squat; to ruck.
   • c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act V, scene vi]:

     The raven rook'd her on the chimney's top

rook (rooks, present participle rooking; simple past and past participle rooked)

1. Pronunciation spelling of look (mimicking Asian speech)