off the hook
Relieved of a duty, burden, responsibility, or pressureRelieved of a duty, burden, responsibility, or pressure.
» We let Tom off the hook.
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
5 senses(idiomatic, not comparable)Relieved of a duty, burden, responsibility, or pressure.
off the hook for
Well, you're off the hook for next Tuesday's meeting, but you're still on the hook for this Friday's deadline.
(not comparable)Of a telephone, having an open connection; not hung up.
I think he left the phone off the hook so that nobody would call him.
(not comparable)Of a telephone, ringing frequently.
The phone was ringing off the hook all night.
(idiomatic, informal, not comparable)Performing extraordinarily well.
That's five three-pointers in a row! Smith is off the hook!
(idiomatic, informal, not comparable, slang)Fresh, cool, trendy, excellent, incredible.
That party was off the hook!
- freed from danger or blame or obligation
Examples
35 sentencesWe let Tom off the hook.
Tom took the key off of the hook it was hanging on.
ruТом взял ключ с крючка, на котором тот висел. — odexed
deTom nahm den Schlüssel von dem Haken, an dem er hing. — Pfirsichbaeumchen
You're off the hook this time.
Tom isn't off the hook yet.
Did you know the phone's off the hook?
Translations
1 languagesOrigin
An allusion to a fish caught on the hook of a fishing line. Referring to the candlestickAn 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.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.