Meaning & use
rook
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Meanings
nouncountable
A chess piece shaped like a tower that moves any number of squares in a straight line along rows or columns.
Grammar: Takes a/the: the rook.
Patterns
- a rook on something
She captured his rook with her bishop.
A rook can move across an open file.
In castling, the king and the rook move together.
nouncountable
A large black European bird of the crow family that nests in groups in tall trees.
Grammar: Often in groups: a rookery.
Patterns
- a flock of rooks
Rooks cawed in the elms above the field.
A rookery of noisy rooks filled the old trees.
The farmer scared the rooks away from the crops.
verbtransitiveinformalold-fashioned
To cheat someone, especially by charging too much money.
Grammar: Takes a person: rook someone.
Patterns
- rook someone out of something
- be rooked
The dealer rooked tourists by charging triple.
He felt rooked after paying so much for a cheap watch.
They were rooked out of their savings.
Word forms
| plural | rooks |
|---|---|
| third person singular | rooks |
| past tense | rooked |
| past participle | rooked |
| -ing form | rooking |
Common combinations
- rook and king
- A rook and king can win the endgame.
- flock of rooks
- A flock of rooks flew over the church.
- rook endgame
- He studied the rook endgame for hours.
- be rooked
- They were rooked by a dishonest repairman.
- castle the rook
- He moved the rook while castling.
Synonyms and how they differ
- castle
- Castle is an informal name for the chess rook, while rook is the proper name.
- crow
- Crow is the wider term, while rook is a specific species with a gray face.
- swindle
- Swindle is a more general word for cheating, and rook sounds more informal and dated.
- fleece
- Fleece stresses stripping someone of money bit by bit, while rook emphasizes overcharging.
Word family
Commonly confused: rook or rookie? rook or ruck?
rook vs rookie
A rookie is a beginner, but a rook is a bird, a chess piece or a verb meaning to cheat.
rook vs ruck
Ruck is a rugby term, and has a different sound and meaning.
Practice
The garage owner ___ them by charging twice the fair price for a simple repair.
Choose one answer.
To rook someone is to cheat them over money. Castled is a chess move, and perched and nested are bird actions.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “rook”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.