Definition of "on the hook" []

• In debt; obligated to pay or provide; liable; responsible or blamed. (adjective)

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• "Not long since we saw one of these birds of unusual size, weighing nineteen pounds; it had been caught in Seneca Lake on the hook of what fishermen call a set-line, dropped to the depth of ninety-five feet, the bird having dived that distance to reach the bait."
• "John Strother of Princeton, New Jersey, shot back, “Did you substitute on the hook for on the horn?”"
• "Before getting out, she reached into the backseat for the dry cleaner’s bag that had been hanging on the hook on the door."