/ kɒk; NAmE kɑːk/ noun , verb
■ noun
1.
( BrE ) (also roost·er NAmE , BrE ) [ C ] an adult male chicken :
The cock crowed.
—compare hen
2.
[ C ] (especially in compounds) a male of any other bird :
a cock pheasant
—see also peacock
3.
[ C ] ( taboo , slang ) a penis
4.
[ C ] = stopcock
—see also ballcock
5.
[ sing. ] ( old-fashioned , BrE , slang ) used as a friendly form of address between men
—see also half-cock
■ verb [ vn ]
1.
to raise a part of your body so that it is vertical or at an angle :
The dog cocked its leg by every tree on our route (= in order to urinate ) .
He cocked an inquisitive eyebrow at her.
She cocked her head to one side and looked at me.
The dog stood listening, its ears cocked.
2.
cock a gun / pistol / rifle to raise the hammer on a gun so that it is ready to fire
•
IDIOMS
- cock an ear / eye at sth/sb
- cock a snook at sb/sth
•
PHRASAL VERBS
- cock sth up
••
WORD ORIGIN
Old English cocc , from medieval Latin coccus ; reinforced in Middle English by Old French coq .