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Webster 1913 Edition

Cock

Cock

(kŏk)
,
Noun.
[AS.
coc
; of unknown origin, perh. in imitation of the cry of the cock. Cf.
Chicken
.]
1.
The male of birds, particularly of gallinaceous or domestic fowls.
2.
A vane in the shape of a cock; a weathercock.
Drenched our steeples, drowned the
cocks
!
Shakespeare
3.
A chief man; a leader or master.
[Humorous]
Sir Andrew is the
cock
of the club, since he left us.
Addison.
4.
The crow of a cock, esp. the first crow in the morning; cockcrow.
[Obs.]
He begins at curfew, and walks till the first
cock
.
Shakespeare
5.
A faucet or valve.
☞ Jonsons says, “The handle probably had a cock on the top; things that were contrived to turn seem anciently to have had that form, whatever was the reason.” Skinner says, because it used to be constructed in forma critæ galli, i.e., in the form of a cock’s comb.
6.
The style of gnomon of a dial.
Chambers.
7.
The indicator of a balance.
Johnson.
8.
The bridge piece which affords a bearing for the pivot of a balance in a clock or watch.
Knight.
Ball cock
.
See under
Ball
.
–
Chaparral cock
.
See under
Chaparral
.
–
Cock and bull story
,
an extravagant
,
boastful story; a canard.
–
Cock of the plains
(Zool.)
See
Sage cock
.
–
Cock of the rock
(Zool.)
,
a South American bird (
Rupicola aurantia
) having a beautiful crest.
–
Cock of the walk
,
a chief or master; the hero of the hour; one who has overcrowed, or got the better of, rivals or competitors.
–
Cock of the woods
.
See
Capercailzie
.

Cock

(kŏk)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Cocked
(kŏkt)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Cocking
.]
[Cf. Gael.
coc
to cock.]
1.
To set erect; to turn up.
Our Lightfoot barks, and
cocks
his ears.
Gay.
Dick would
cock
his nose in scorn.
Swift.
2.
To shape, as a hat, by turning up the brim.
3.
To set on one side in a pert or jaunty manner.
They
cocked
their hats in each other's faces.
Macaulay.
4.
To turn (the eye) obliquely and partially close its lid, as an expression of derision or insinuation.
Cocked hat
.
(a)
A hat with large, stiff flaps turned up to a peaked crown, thus making its form triangular; – called also
three-cornered hat
.
(b)
A game similar to ninepins, except that only three pins are used, which are set up at the angles of a triangle.

Cock

,
Verb.
I.
To strut; to swagger; to look big, pert, or menacing.
Addison.

Cock

,
Noun.
The act of cocking; also, the turn so given;
as, a
cock
of the eyes; to give a hat a saucy
cock
.

Cock

,
Noun.
[It.
cocca
notch of an arrow.]
1.
The notch of an arrow or crossbow.
2.
The hammer in the lock of a firearm.
At cock
,
At full cock
,
with the hammer raised and ready to fire; – said of firearms, also, jocularly, of one prepared for instant action.
–
At half cock
.
See under
Half
.
–
Cock feather
(Archery)
,
the feather of an arrow at right angles to the direction of the cock or notch.
Nares.

Cock

,
Verb.
T.
To draw the hammer of (a firearm) fully back and set it for firing.

Cock

,
Verb.
I.
To draw back the hammer of a firearm, and set it for firing.
Cocked
, fired, and missed his man.
Byron.

Cock

,
Noun.
[Cf. Icel.
kökkr
lump, Dan.
kok
heap, or E.
cock
to set erect.]
A small concial pile of hay.

Cock

,
Verb.
T.
To put into cocks or heaps, as hay.
Under the
cocked
hay.
Spenser.

Cock

,
Noun.
[Of.
coque
, F.
coche
, a small vessel, L.
concha
muscle shell, a vessel. See
Coach
, and cf.
Cog
a small boat.]
A small boat.
Yond tall anchoring bark [appears]
Diminished to her
cock
; her
cock
, a buoy
Almost too small for sight.
Shakespeare

Cock

,
Noun.
A corruption or disguise of the word God, used in oaths.
[Obs.]
“By cock and pie.”
Shak.

Webster 1828 Edition

Cock

COCK

, n.
1.
The male of birds, particularly of gallinaceous or domestic fowls, which having no appropriate or distinctive name, are called dunghill fowls or barn-door fowls.
2.
A weather-cock; a vane in shape of a cock. [It is usually called a weather-cock.]
3.
A spout; an instrument to draw out or discharge liquor from a cask, vat or pipe; so named from its projection.
4.
The projecting corner of a hat.
5.
A small conical pile of hay, so shaped for shedding rain; called in England a cop. When hay is dry and rolled together for carting, the heaps are not generally called cocks, at least not in New England. A large conical pile is called a stack.
6.
The style or gnomon of a dial.
7.
The needle of a balance.
8.
The piece which covers the balance in a clock or watch.
9.
The notch of an arrow.
10.
The part of a musket or other fire arm, to which a flint is attached, and which, being impelled by a spring, strikes fire, and opens the pan at the same time.
11.
A small boat. It is now called a cock-boat, which is tautology, as cock itself is a bot.
12.
A leader; a chief man.
Sir Andrew is the cock of the club.
13.
Cock-crowing; the time when cocks crow in the morning.
Cock a hoop, or cock on the hoop, a phrase denoting triumph; triumphant; exulting.
Cock and a bull, a phrase denoting tedious trifling stories.

COCK

, v.t.
1.
To set erect; to turn up; as, to cock the nose or ears.
2.
To set the brim of a hat so as to make sharp corners or points; or to set up with an air of pertness.
3.
To make up hay in small conical piles.
4.
To set or draw back the cock of a gun, in order to fire.

COCK

, v.i.
1.
To hold up the head; to strut; to look big, pert, or menacing.
2.
To train or use fighting cocks.
3.
To cocker.

Definition 2024

cock

cock

English

Noun

cock ‎(plural cocks)

  1. A male bird, especially a domestic fowl.
    1. A male chicken or other gallinaceous bird.
    2. A male pigeon.
  2. A valve or tap for controlling flow in plumbing.
  3. The hammer of a firearm trigger mechanism.
  4. The notch of an arrow or crossbow.
  5. (slang, vulgar) The ****.
  6. (curling) The circle at the end of the rink.
  7. The state of being cocked; an upward turn, tilt or angle.
  8. (Britain, New Zealand, pejorative, slang) A stupid person.
  9. (informal, Britain, Tasmania) Term of address.
    All right, cock?
  10. A boastful tilt of one's head or hat.
  11. (informal) shuttlecock
  12. A vane in the shape of a cock; a weathercock.
    • Shakespeare
      Drenched our steeples, drowned the cocks!
  13. (dated, humorous) A chief man; a leader or master.
    • Addison
      Sir Andrew is the cock of the club, since he left us.
  14. The crow of a cock, especially the first crow in the morning; cockcrow.
    • Shakespeare
      He begins at curfew, and walks till the first cock.
  15. The style or gnomon of a sundial.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Chambers to this entry?)
  16. The indicator of a balance.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Johnson to this entry?)
  17. The bridge piece that affords a bearing for the pivot of a balance in a clock or watch.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Knight to this entry?)
Synonyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations

Verb

cock ‎(third-person singular simple present cocks, present participle cocking, simple past and past participle cocked)

  1. (transitive, intransitive) To lift the cock of a firearm or crossbow; to prepare (a gun or crossbow) to be fired.
    • Byron
      Cocked, fired, and missed his man.
  2. (intransitive) To be prepared to be triggered by having the cock lifted.
    In the darkness, the gun cocked loudly.
  3. (transitive) To erect; to turn up.
    • Gay
      Our Lightfoot barks, and cocks his ears.
    • Jonathan Swift
      Dick would cock his nose in scorn.
  4. (Britain, transitive, slang) To copulate with.
  5. (transitive) To turn or twist something upwards or to one side; to lift or tilt (e.g. headwear) boastfully.
    He cocked his hat jauntily.
  6. (intransitive, dated) To turn (the eye) obliquely and partially close its lid, as an expression of derision or insinuation.
  7. (intransitive, dated) To strut; to swagger; to look big, pert, or menacing.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Addison to this entry?)
  8. (transitive, obsolete) To make a nestle-cock of, to pamper or spoil (of children)
Derived terms
Translations

Interjection

cock

  1. (slang) Expression of annoyance.
    • 2006, "Vamp", oh cock i should have kept with a toyota! (on newsgroup uk.rec.cars.modifications)

See also

Etymology 2

From Middle English cock, cok, from Old English -cocc ‎(attested in place names), from Old Norse kǫkkr ‎(“lump”), from Proto-Germanic *kukkaz ‎(“bulge, swelling”), from Proto-Indo-European *geugh- ‎(“swelling”). Cognate with Norwegian kok ‎(“heap, lump”), Swedish koka ‎(“a lump of earth”), German Kocke ‎(“heap of hay, dunghill”), Middle Low German kogge ‎(“wide, rounded ship”), Dutch kogel ‎(“ball”), German Kugel ‎(“ball, globe”).

Noun

cock ‎(plural cocks)

  1. A small conical pile of hay.
    The farmhands stack the hay into cocks
Derived terms
  • hay-cock
Translations

Verb

cock ‎(third-person singular simple present cocks, present participle cocking, simple past and past participle cocked)

  1. (transitive) To form into piles.
    • Spenser
      Under the cocked hay.
Translations

Etymology 3

from Old French coque ‎(“a type of small boat”), from child-talk coco 'egg'

Noun

cock ‎(plural cocks)

  1. Short for cock-boat, a type of small boat.
    • Shakespeare
      Yond tall anchoring bark [appears] / Diminished to her cock; her cock, a buoy / Almost too small for sight.

Etymology 4

Proper noun

cock

  1. (obsolete) A corruption of the word God, used in oaths.
    • Shakespeare
      By cock and pie.

Etymology

From Middle English cok, from Old English coc, cocc ‎(“cock, male bird”), from Proto-Germanic *kukkaz ‎(“cock”), probably of onomatopoeic origin. Cognate with Middle Dutch cocke ‎(“cock, male bird”) and Old Norse kokkr ("cock"; whence Danish kok ‎(“cock”)). Reinforced by Old French coc, also of imitative origin.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /kɒk/
  • (US) enPR: käk, kôk, IPA(key): /kɑk/, /kɔːk/
  • Homophone: caulk (some pronunciations)
  • Rhymes: -ɒk

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