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cock1

Pronunciation: /kɒk/
Translate cock | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of cock

noun

  • 1British a male bird, especially of a domestic fowl.
  • [in combination] used in names of birds, especially game birds, e.g. watercock.
  • British a male lobster, crab, or salmon: the biggest salmon I ever had was a 45 lb cock
  • British informal a friendly form of address among men:please yourself, cock
  • 2 vulgar slang a man’s penis.
  • 3 [mass noun] British informal nonsense:that’s all a lot of cock
  • 4a firing lever in a gun which can be raised to be released by the trigger.
  • 5a stopcock.

verb

[with object]
  • 1tilt (something) in a particular direction:she cocked her head slightly to one side
  • bend a (limb or joint) at an angle:Madge threw herself into the armchair and cocked her legs over the side
  • (of a male dog) lift (a back leg) in order to urinate: a greyhound cocked its leg against the tree
  • 2raise the cock of (a gun) in order to make it ready for firing: he took the loaded pistol from his belt and cocked it
  • 3 (cock something up) British informal ruin something as a result of incompetence or inefficiency:the party cocked up the Euro-elections

Phrases

at full cock

(of a gun) with the cock lifted to the position at which the trigger will act: he wore a leather holster, the automatic slung at full cock butt-forward

cock one's ear

(of a dog) raise its ears to an erect position: the animal responded to the noise by cocking its ears
(of a person) listen attentively to or for something: she held up a finger for silence, cocking an ear to the background music

cock one's eye

glance in a quizzical or knowing manner with a raised eyebrow: he cocked an eye speculatively over the rim of his glass

cock of the walk

someone who dominates others within a group: don’t ever forget he’s cock of the walk here

cock a snook

see snook2.

Origin:

Old English cocc, from medieval Latin coccus; reinforced in Middle English by Old French coq

cock in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of cock in the US English dictionary

Nearby words

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