skyhook

noun8

1. •
   A hook imagined to be suspended in midair.

   • Those who yearn for skyhooks call those who eagerly settle for cranes "reductionists", and they can often make reductionism seem philistine and heartless. — 1995
2. •
   A helicopter that lifts and transports heavy objects suspended by a heavy cable.
3. •
   A proposed momentum-exchange tether for launching payloads into low Earth orbit by hooking them to the end of a cable that reaches down from an orbiting station into the upper atmosphere.

   • It was during those battles that ORBITAL-class armor was deployed to secure and defend the skyhooks and tethers above Earth, Luna, and Mars. — 2013
4. •
   An overhead winch.
5. •
   A small hook for gripping small and slippery protrusions.
6. •
   (slang) A CB radio antenna.

   • […] despite the absence of the proverbial home-grown 75-foot high steel "sky hook." — 1982
7. •
   A device covering the rider's boot and sometimes screwed to the board, to facilitate jumping and enhance stability.

   • Tom bought the rights to a plastic board that had a skateboard deck and skyhooks. — 2003
8. •
   A form of the overhead smash in which the eastern grip is used to hit the ball farther behind the body than usually possible.