Library / English Dictionary

COCK

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Adult male bird

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("cock" is a kind of...):

bird (warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "cock"):

fighting cock; gamecock (a cock bred and trained for fighting)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Adult male chicken

Synonyms:

cock; rooster

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("cock" is a kind of...):

chicken; Gallus gallus (a domestic fowl bred for flesh or eggs; believed to have been developed from the red jungle fowl)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "cock"):

cockerel (a young domestic cock; not older than one year)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The part of a gunlock that strikes the percussion cap when the trigger is pulled

Synonyms:

cock; hammer

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("cock" is a kind of...):

striker (the part of a mechanical device that strikes something)

Holonyms ("cock" is a part of...):

firing mechanism; gunlock (the action that ignites the charge in a firearm)

Derivation:

cock (set the trigger of a firearm back for firing)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Faucet consisting of a rotating device for regulating flow of a liquid

Synonyms:

cock; stopcock; turncock

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("cock" is a kind of...):

faucet; spigot (a regulator for controlling the flow of a liquid from a reservoir)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Obscene terms for penis

Synonyms:

cock; dick; pecker; prick; putz; shaft; tool

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("cock" is a kind of...):

member; penis; phallus (the male sex organ ('member' is a euphemism))

Domain usage:

dirty word; filth; obscenity; smut; vulgarism (an offensive or indecent word or phrase)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Set the trigger of a firearm back for firing

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "cock" is one way to...):

lay; place; pose; position; put; set (put into a certain place or abstract location)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

cock (the part of a gunlock that strikes the percussion cap when the trigger is pulled)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Tilt or slant to one side

Example:

cock one's head

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "cock" is one way to...):

cant; cant over; pitch; slant; tilt (heel over)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

To walk with a lofty proud gait, often in an attempt to impress others

Example:

He struts around like a rooster in a hen house

Synonyms:

cock; prance; ruffle; sashay; strut; swagger; tittup

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "cock" is one way to...):

walk (use one's feet to advance; advance by steps)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Credits

 Context examples: 

After the reading came the lesson, which was a lively one, for Jo was in a gay mood that night, and the cocked hat kept her eyes dancing with merriment.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

A more absurd object than she presented cocked up there with her face convulsed with anger, her feet dangling, and her body rigid for fear of an upset, I could not imagine.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

When it comes to handicapping a horse, playing a hand, matching a cock, or picking a man, he has the best judgment in England.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He kept awaking and cocking his ears at the bright world without, where the April sun was blazing across the snow.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

The more usual victims are a white cock, which is plucked in pieces alive, or a black goat, whose throat is cut and body burned.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

You were cock of your gang because others acclaimed you the real thing.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

As we approached the forbidding and squalid inn, with the sign of a game-cock above the door, Holmes gave a sudden groan, and clutched me by the shoulder to save himself from falling.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I must acknowledge that I felt it difficult to picture him quite at his ease in the raiment proposed for him by his grateful little niece, and that I was particularly doubtful of the policy of the cocked hat; but I kept these sentiments to myself.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

He would be lying in camp, dozing lazily in the heat of the day, when suddenly his head would lift and his ears cock up, intent and listening, and he would spring to his feet and dash away, and on and on, for hours, through the forest aisles and across the open spaces where the niggerheads bunched.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

I really believe, said he, I could be fool enough at this moment to undertake any character that ever was written, from Shylock or Richard III down to the singing hero of a farce in his scarlet coat and cocked hat.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)