/spach"kok'/ , n.
1. a fowl that has been dressed and split open for grilling.
v.t.
2. to prepare and roast (a fowl) in this manner.
3. to insert or interpolate, esp. in a forced or incongruous manner: Additional information has been spatchcocked into the occasional random footnote.
[ 1775-85; appar. alter. of SPITCHCOCK; popular interpretation as shortening of dispatch cock is prob. specious ]