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off the hook

Relieved of a duty, burden, responsibility, or pressure.

Etymology:

  • An allusion to a fish caught on the hook of a fishing line.
  • Referring to the candlestick phone, which in order to hang up, the receiver must be hung on a hook. Leaving the receiver off the hook would prevent it from being able to receive calls.
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Without any evidence, the police had to let the suspect off the hook.

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Submitted on September 01, 2009

Additional definitions for 'off the hook':

off the hookOf a telephone, having an open connection; not hung up.
off the hookPerforming extraordinarily well.
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Nearby phrases

Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to off the hook

off the chainoff the railsoff the wagonoff the railsoff the gridoff the gridoff the gridoff the chainoff the railsoff the beaten pathoff the gridoff the gridoff topicoff the cuff

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