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Crook vs Boss - What's the difference?

crook | boss |

In obsolete terms the difference between crook and boss

is that crook is a support beam consisting of a post with a cross-beam resting upon it; a bracket or truss consisting of a vertical piece, a horizontal piece, and a strut while boss is a hassock or small seat, especially made from a bundle of straw.

In transitive terms the difference between crook and boss

is that crook is to bend while boss is to exercise authoritative control over; to lord over; to boss around; to tell (someone) what to do, often repeatedly.

crook

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) croke, crok, from (etyl) *.

Noun

(en noun)
  • A bend; turn; curve; curvature; a flexure.
  • :
  • *(Thomas Phaer) (c.1510-1560)
  • *:through lanes, and crooks , and darkness
  • A bending of the knee; a genuflection.
  • A bent or curved part; a curving piece or portion (of anything).
  • :
  • *
  • *:It was flood-tide along Fifth Avenue; motor, brougham, and victoria swept by on the glittering current; pretty women glanced out from limousine and tonneau; young men of his own type, silk-hatted, frock-coated, the 'crooks of their walking sticks tucked up under their left arms, passed on the Park side.
  • (lb) A lock or curl of hair.
  • (lb) A gibbet.
  • (lb) A support beam consisting of a post with a cross-beam resting upon it; a bracket or truss consisting of a vertical piece, a horizontal piece, and a strut.
  • A shepherd's crook; a staff with a semi-circular bend ("hook") at one end used by shepherds.
  • *1970 , The New English Bible with the Apocrypha, Oxford Study Edition'', published 1976, Oxford University Press, ''Psalms 23-4, p.583:
  • *:Even though I walk through a / valley dark as death / I fear no evil, for thou art with me, / thy staff and thy crook are my / comfort.
  • A bishop's staff of office.
  • An artifice; a trick; a contrivance.
  • *(Thomas Cranmer) (1489-1556)
  • *:for all your brags, hooks, and crooks
  • A person who steals, lies, cheats or does other dishonest or illegal things; a criminal.
  • *1973 November 17, (Richard Nixon), reported 1973 November 18, The Washington Post'', ''Nixon Tells Editors, ‘I'm Not a Crook’ ,
  • *:"People have got to know whether or not their President is a crook'. Well, I?m not a ' crook . I?ve earned everything I?ve got."
  • A pothook.
  • *Sir (Walter Scott) (1771-1832)
  • *:as black as the crook
  • (lb) A small tube, usually curved, applied to a trumpet, horn, etc., to change its pitch or key.
    • Synonyms
    * (criminal) See
    Derived terms
    * by hook or by crook * by hook or crook (US)

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To bend.
    • He crooked his finger toward me.
  • * Shakespeare
    • Crook the pregnant hinges of the knee.
  • * 1917 , , Part 4, Chapter 5,
    • “.
  • To turn from the path of rectitude; to pervert; to misapply; to twist.
  • * Ascham
    • There is no one thing that crooks youth more than such unlawful games.
  • * Francis Bacon
    • Whatsoever affairs pass such a man's hands, he crooketh them to his own ends.
    Derived terms
    * crooked (adjective)

    Etymology 2

    From . Australian National Dictionary Centre Home » Australian words » Meanings and origins of Australian words and idioms » C

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • (Australia, New Zealand, slang) Bad, unsatisfactory, not up to standard.
    • That work you did on my car is crook , mate
    Not turning up for training was pretty crook .
    Things are crook at Tallarook.
  • * 2004 , , A Cry from the Dark , page 21,
    • “Things are crook at home at the moment.”
    “They?re always crook at my home.”
  • (Australia, New Zealand, slang) Ill, sick.
    • I?m feeling a bit crook .
  • (Australia, New Zealand, slang) Annoyed, angry; upset.
    • be crook''' at/about''; ''go '''crook at
  • * 2006 , Jimmy Butt, Felicity Dargan, I've Been Bloody Lucky: The Story of an Orphan Named Jimmy Butt , page 17,
    • Ann explained to the teacher what had happened and the nuns went crook at me too.
  • * 2007 , Jo Wainer, Bess'', ''Lost: Illegal Abortion Stories , page 159,
    • I went home on the tram, then Mum went crook at me because I was late getting home—I had tickets for Mum and her friend to go to the Regent that night and she was annoyed because I was late.
  • * 2007 , Ruby Langford Ginibi, Don?t Take Your Love to Town , page 100,
    • I went crook at them for not telling me and as soon as she was well enough I took her home to the camping area and she soon picked up.
  • * 2009 , Carolyn Landon, Cups With No Handles: Memoir of a Grassroots Activist , page 234,
    • Mum went crook at me for wasting money, but when Don got a job and spent all his money on a racing bike, she didn?t say a thing to him.

    Usage notes

    Synthetic comparative and superlative forms (crooker'', ''crookest ) also find frequent use.
    Derived terms
    * crook as Rookwood

    References

    boss

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) bos, bose, boce, from (etyl) .

    Noun

    (es)
  • A swelling, lump or protuberance in an animal, person or object.
  • (geology) A lump-like mass of rock, especially one projecting through a stratum of different rock.
  • A convex protuberance in hammered work, especially the rounded projection in the centre of a shield.
  • (mechanics) A protrusion, frequently a cylinder of material that extends beyond a hole.
  • (architecture) A knob or projection, usually at the intersection of ribs in a vault.
  • (archery) the target block, made of foam but historically made of hay bales, to which a target face is attached.
  • A wooden vessel for the mortar used in tiling or masonry, hung by a hook from the laths, or from the rounds of a ladder.
    • (Gwilt)
  • A head or reservoir of water.
    • Derived terms
    * bossless * bosslike * emboss

    Verb

    (es)
  • To decorate with bosses; to emboss.

    • Etymology 2

    Apparently a corruption of (bass).

    Noun

    (es)
  • (obsolete) A hassock or small seat, especially made from a bundle of straw.
  • * 1916 , , Macmillan Press Ltd, paperback, 36:
    • All were waiting : uncle Charles, who sat far away in the shadow of the window, Dante and Mr Casey, who sat in the easy chairs at either side of the hearth, Stephen, seated on a chair between them, his feet resting on a toasting boss .
    Synonyms
    * (hassock or footrest): footrest, hassock

    Etymology 3

    From (etyl) baas, from (etyl) . Originally a term of respect used to address an older relative, later, in , it began to mean a person in charge who is not a master.

    Noun

    (es)
  • A person who oversees and directs the work of others; a supervisor.
  • A person in charge of a business or company.
    • Chat turned to whisper when the boss entered the conference room.
    My boss complains that I'm always late to work.
  • A leader, the head of an organized group or team.
    • They named him boss because he had good leadership skills.
  • The head of a political party in a given region or district.
    • He is the Republican boss in Kentucky.
  • (informal) A term of address to a man.
    • Yes, boss .
  • (video games) An enemy, often at the end of a level, that is particularly challenging and must be beaten in order to progress.
  • (humorous) Wife.
    • There's no olive oil, will sunflower oil do? — I'll have to run that by the boss .
    Synonyms
    * (person in charge of a business or company): employer * (person who oversees and directs the work of others): line manager, manager, supervisor * (leader of an organized group or team): head, leader * (head of a political party in a given region or district): leader * : gov/guv (UK), guvnor (UK), mate (UK) * See also
    Derived terms
    * boss battle * boss fight * miniboss * final boss * show someone who's boss * you're the boss

    Verb

    (es)
  • To exercise authoritative control over; to lord over; to boss around; to tell (someone) what to do, often repeatedly.
  • * 1931 , Robert L. May, Rudolph'', ''The Red-Nosed Reindeer , Montgomery Ward (publisher):
    • By YOU last night’s journey was actually bossed / Without you, I’m certain, we’d all have been lost.
  • * 1932 , Lorine Pruette, The Parent and the Happy Child , page 76
    • His sisters bossed him and spoiled him. All their lives he was to go on being their little brother, who could do no wrong, because he was the baby; [...]
  • * 1967 , Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, The purloined paperweight , page 90
    • She bossed him, and he's never gotten over it. She still orders him around, and instead of telling her to go soak her head, he just says 'Yes, ma'am' as weak as a newborn jellyfish [...]
  • * 1980 , Jean Toomer The wayward and the seeking: a collection of writings by Jean Toomer , page 40
    • For if, on the one hand, I bossed him and showed him what to do and how to do it, [...]
    Derived terms
    * boss about, boss around

    Adjective

    (-)
  • (slang, American, Liverpool) Of excellent quality, first-rate.
    • ''Don't you think surfing's boss ?

    Anagrams

    * * ----