noun
General Slang
Rooker
/ˈruːkə/ · noun · slang
Nadsat for the hand or arm, from the Russian 'ruka'.
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Definitions
1
Used wherever English would say hand, including grabbing, holding, and striking.
“He laid a heavy rooker on the boy's shoulder.”
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2
In Nadsat, a rooker is a hand (and sometimes the arm). Source word: Russian 'ruka' (рука), literally 'hand' or 'arm'.
“Alex grips the britva in his rooker and waits.”
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3
Part of the Nadsat body lexicon alongside gulliver and litso.
“Both rookers were stained with krovvy by morning.”
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Rooker In A Sentence
Keep your rookers off the merchandise.
He raised a rooker and the room went quiet.
She took his rooker and led him into the dark.
Origin & Usage
Coined by Burgess in A Clockwork Orange (1962) from the Russian 'ruka', 'hand'. Burgess's spelling 'rooker' also faintly echoes the English 'rook', adding a sly extra layer.
Variants
rookers
People Also Ask
What does rooker mean?
It is Nadsat for the hand or arm, from the Russian 'ruka'.
Where did rooker come from?
Anthony Burgess coined it for A Clockwork Orange in 1962 from the Russian word 'ruka'.
Does rooker mean hand or arm?
Chiefly the hand, though it can stretch to the arm, mirroring the broad sense of Russian 'ruka'.
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