by hook or crook

by hook or (by) crook

In any way possible. A: "But we're not allowed to submit more than one entry per person." B: "Oh, forget that—we are winning this contest by hook or by crook!" We need to court that big investor by hook or by crook, so shameless flattery is a fine place to start!
See also: by, crook, hook
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

by hook or (by) crook

by any means, legal or illegal. I'll get the job done by hook or by crook. I must have that house. I intend to get it by hook or crook.
See also: by, crook, hook
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

by hook or crook

By any means possible, in one way or another. For example, The car broke down, but I'll get there by hook or crook. This term has a disputed origin. A widely held theory is that it comes from the custom of allowing commoners to take as much wood from royal forests as they could reach with a shepherd's crook and cut down with a billhook. [1300s] Also see the synonym by any means.
See also: by, crook, hook
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
See also:
  • by hook or (by) crook
  • by hook or by crook
  • sink the hook
  • hook up
  • sling (one's) hook
  • sling your hook
  • hooked on
  • hooked on something
  • hook on
  • hook oneself on
References in classic literature
But it should result in the rescue of Raffles by hook or crook.
A Thie in the Night
If Joseph Willet, the denounced and proscribed of 'prentices, had happened to be at home when his father's courtly guest presented himself before the Maypole door--that is, if it had not perversely chanced to be one of the half-dozen days in the whole year on which he was at liberty to absent himself for as many hours without question or reproach--he would have contrived, by hook or crook, to dive to the very bottom of Mr Chester's mystery, and to come at his purpose with as much certainty as though he had been his confidential adviser.
Barnaby Rudge A Tale Of The Riots Of Eighty
Prime Minister Modi asserted that if Congress-JD(S) alliance had formed the government "by hook or crook", the people of the entire country, including Karnataka is watching them and would teach them a lesson for their "misgovernance."
K'taka govt interested in corruption not development: PM Modi
By hook or crook Lancashire eked out a sevenrun first-innings lead.
Cricket: Anderson on song
By hook or crook Lancashire eked out a sevenrun first-innings lead before young Yorkshire opener Chris Taylor bagged a successive second-ball duck of the match to leave his team three for one.
Cricket: Lancs look to Swann