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cock 1
(kŏk)n.
1.
a. An adult male chicken; a rooster.
b. An adult male of various other birds.
2. A weathervane shaped like a rooster; a weathercock.
3. A faucet or valve by which the flow of a liquid or gas can be regulated.
4.
a. The hammer of a firearm.
b. The position of the hammer of a firearm when ready for firing.
5. A tilting or jaunty turn upward: the cock of a hat.
6. Vulgar Slang
a. The penis.
b. A man or boy regarded as mean or contemptible.
7. Archaic The characteristic cry of a rooster early in the morning.
tr.v. cocked, cock·ing, cocks
1. To set the hammer of (a firearm) in a position ready for firing.
2. To set (a device, such as a camera shutter) in a position ready for use.
3. To tilt or turn up or to one side, usually in a jaunty or alert manner: cocked an eyebrow in response to a silly question.
4. To raise in preparation to throw or hit: cocked the bat before swinging at the pitch.
cock of the walk
An overbearing or domineering person.
[Middle English cok, from Old English cocc, probably from Late Latin coccus, from coco, a cackling, of imitative origin.]
cock 2
(kŏk)n.
A cone-shaped pile of straw or hay.
tr.v. cocked, cock·ing, cocks
To arrange (straw or hay) into piles shaped like cones.
[Middle English cok.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.