hook up

Verb

hook up (third-person singular simple present hooks up, present participle hooking up, simple past and past participle hooked up)

1. (transitive) To assemble the parts of a mechanism, especially by connecting wires.
2. (transitive) To connect to something like a power supply or a signal source.
   • The suspect was hooked up to a lie detector.
   • An artificial kidney these days still means a refrigerator-sized dialysis machine. Such devices mimic[…]real kidneys[…]. But they are nothing like as efficient, and can cause bleeding, clotting and infection—not to mention inconvenience for patients, who typically need to be hooked up to one three...2013 June 1, “A better waterworks”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 5 (Technology Quarterly)
3. (intransitive, slang) To form an association (with) someone.
   • The last time Madonna was indisputably on point, she had hooked up with French producer Mirwais for Music (2000) and the sensuous possibilities of club culture.2019 June 8, Kitty Empire, “Madonna: Madame X review – a splendidly bizarre return to form”, in The Guardian
4. (slang, transitive) To connect (someone) (with) another person.
   • One site, PearPop.com, hooks TikTok or Instagram influencers up with fans to create duetted or stitched videos that fans pay for. This can be an effective way to build followers fast.⁹ Model Leah Svoboda added 120,000 followers after a PearPop duet with megainfluencer Anna Shumate.¹⁰2022, Brian Boxer Wachler, Influenced: The Impact of Social Media on Our Perception, Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, pages 186–187
5. (intransitive, slang) To have a casual sexual experience with another person, usually without any future relationship intended.
   • You work out so you can increase your chances of hooking up. That means having the kind of physique that looks good in clothes and looks even better naked.2008, Nate Green, Built for Show, page 3
   • Mr. Woo said a Grindr survey of its users found that two-thirds of them were using the application to find new friends, to network or to kill time, as well as to hook up.2013 March 10, Jenna Wortham, “How Grindr Is Changing the Way We Connect”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 14 Apr 2023

   Synonyms:

   do it, get laid, Netflix and chill, have sex, approach, cohabit, common, company, copulate, couple

6. (idiomatic, slang) To supply someone with goods or services.
   • That guy didn't get his ticket; can you hook him up for me?
7. (idiomatic, slang) To deal drugs; to sell contraband.
   • Hey man, can you hook me up with some weed?
   • He's been hooking me up for years.
8. (idiomatic, slang) To give a good deal for buying something; to give something for free or to give more than the recipient is entitled to.
   • When you need a new car, come see me, I can hook you up with friend prices.