Hooking up is a fairly modern term. In middle school, more precise descriptions were used to describe different types of sexual activity with boys. Hooking up encompasses any type of sexual activity, from kissing to oral sex to sex -- although, usually, hookups tend to be on the lighter end of that spectrum.

What does hooking up mean in high school?

Teens use the expression hooking up (or messing around or friends with benefits) to describe everything from kissing to having oral sex or intercourse. But it does not mean they are dating. Hooking up isnt a new phenomenon -- its been around for at least 50 years.