cockatrice 
And that bare vo\vel / shall poison more 
Than the death-darting eye of cockatrice. 
Shak., R. and .1., iii. 2. 
2f. A loose woman. 
Withal calls me at his pleasure I know not how many 
cockatrices, and things. B. Jomon, Cynthia's Revels, iv. 1. 
Ainphislen cockatrice. Same as basilisk, 1. Cocka- 
trice's head, in her., a hearing representing the head of 
a cockatrice, which, to distinguish it from a cock's head, 
has two ears or horns. 
Cockaynet, . See Cockaigne. 
cock-bead (kok'bed), . ID. joinery, a bead 
which is not flush with the general surface, but 
raised above it. 
COCkbill (kok'bil), v. t. [See a-cockbill.] Naut., 
to place a-cockbill, as an anchor or the yards. 
The pilot gave orders to cock-bill the anchor and over- 
haul the chain. R. II. Dana, Jr., Before the Mast, p. 427. 
cockboat (kok'bot), . [< ME. col-boot, col- 
late, also ctxjboot, < *cok, E. cock* (or cog, E. 
cog 1 ), + bate, etc., E. boat.'] A small boat. 
See cock*. 
No wise man will sail to Ormus in a cock-boat. 
Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1835), I. 872. 
The camels tripped and stumbled, tossing their litters 
like cock-boats in a short sea. 
R. F. Burton, El-Medinah, p. 352. 
COCk-brainedt (kok'brand), a. Giddy; rash; 
hare-brained. 
The mad Lord Frampul ! and this same is his daughter. 
But as cock-brained as e'er the father was ! 
B. Jonson, New Inn, i. 1. 
Such a cock-brained solicitor. Milton, Colasterion. 
COCk-brass (kok'bras), . Same as cock-metal. 
cock-bread (kok'bred), n. A stimulating diet 
given to game-cocks to prepare them for fight- 
ing. 
You feed us with cock-bread, and arm us with steel spurs 
that we may mangle and kill each other for your sport. 
Southey, The Doctor, clxiv. 
COCk-broth (kok'br6th), n. Broth made by 
boiling a cock or other fowl; cockie-leekie. 
[Scotch.] 
cockchafer (kok ' cha " f er), n. [< cock 1 (orig. 
for clock*, a beetle!) + chafer 1 .] 1. The pop- 
ular name of a very common lamellicorn beetle 
of Europe, Melolontha vulgaris. Also called 
May-beetle, May-bug, dor-beetle, and dor-bug. 
2. Any one of various similar or related beetles. 
cockcrow (kok'kro), . [< cocA- 1 4- crow 1 , n. 
Cf. AS. hancred, cockcrowing, < Jmna, a cock, 
+ cred, crowing.] The time at which cocks 
crow ; the dawn of day. 
cockcrowing (kok'kro'ing), n. [< cocfc 1 + crow- 
ing. ,~] Same as cockcrow. 
Watch ye therefore : for ye know not when the master 
of the house Cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the 
cockcrowing, or in the morning. Mark xiii. 35. 
COcked-hat (kokt'haf), m. [In allusion to the 
three-cornered cocked hat: see cock 2 , v.~\ 1. A 
variety of the game of bowls in which but three 
pins, placed at the angles of a triangle, are used. 
2. A note folded into a three-cornered shape. 
cockee (ko-ke'), . [Sc. ; alsococfc: see cock 1 , 
n., 14.] In the game of curling, the spot at 
the end of a rink where the player must stand 
when he hurls his stone, usually marked by a 
cross in a circle. 
cocke-gardent, . Same as cockle-garden. 
cocker"t (kok'er), H. [(Cf. E. dial, cokers, rims 
of iron round wooden shoes) < ME. coker, a 
kind of boot, appar. a particular use of earlier 
ME. koker, a quiver, < AS. cocor, cocur, cocer 
= OFries. koker = D. koker = MLG. koker, LG. 
koker = OHG. chohhar, MHG. kociier, G. ko'cher 
= Sw. koger = Dan. kogger, a quiver. Hence, 
from Teut., ML. cucurum, MGr. Koi'novpov, OF. 
coccure, also couirc, couei-re, cuivre, > ME. quyver, 
E. quiver 2 . Cocker 2 is thus a doublet of quiver 2 , 
q. v.] 1. A quiver. 
Enne koker fulne flan [arrows]. Layamon, 1. 27fi. 
2. pi. High shoes or half-boots, laced or but- 
toned. 
His mittens were of bauzens [badger's] skinne, 
His cockers were of cordiwin [Cordovan leather], 
His hood of meniveere. Drayivn, Dowsabell. 
3. pi. Thick stockings without feet, used as an 
outside protection for the lower part of the leg. 
Bootes, cocurft, myttens, mot we were [wear] : 
For husbondes and hunters all this goode is ; 
For thai mot walk in breres and in woodes. 
Palladium, Husbondrie (E. E. T. S.), p. 43. 
4. pi. Same as cockermegs. 
COCker 2 (kok'er), n. [< cock'i + -er^.] 1. A 
cock-fighter; one who makes a practice of fight- 
ing game-cocks, or of training them for fighting. 
Here his poor bird th' inhuman cocker brings, 
Arms his hard heel and clips his golden wings. 
Crabbe, Parish Register. 
2. A dog of the spaniel kind, trained to start 
woodcock and snipe in woods and marshes. 
1078 
cocker 3 t, [ME. cocker, cokker; < cock 6 + 
-re 1 .] A fighter ; a bully. 
He is cocker, thef and horeling. JRel. Antiq., I. 188. 
Thise dysars [dicers] and tliise hollars [holours], 
Thise aotltert and tliise bullars, 
Bese welle war of thise men. 
Towneley Mysteries, p. 242. 
cocker 4 (kok'er), r. t. [Early mod. E. also 
roequer (and cockc : see cock 9 ), < ME. cockeren ; 
of uncertain origin. Cf. W. cocri, fondle, in- 
dulge, cocr, a fondling, F. coqueliner, dandle, 
cockle, fondle, It. cocco, "cpckring sport, dan- 
dling delight or glee" (Florio), a darling. See 
cocket 3 , cocking^, cockish, cocky.] To fondle ; 
indulge; treat with excessive tenderness; pam- 
per; spoil. 
Cocker thy child, and he shall make thee afraid. 
Ecclus. xxx. 9. 
I would to God (saith he) we ourselves did not spoil onr 
children's manners, by over-much cockering and nice edu- 
cation. Burton, Anat. of Mel., p. 205. 
The nursery-coofcer't/ child will jeer at aught 
That may seem strange beyond his nursery. 
Tennyson, Queen Mary, ii. 2. 
cocker 6 (kok'er), . [E. dial., also coker, < ME. 
coker; origin uncertain; perhaps connected 
with cock 3 .] A reaper. [Now only prov. Eng. ] 
" Cans tow [canst thou] seruen," he seide, " other syngen 
in a churche, 
Other coke [var. loke] for my cokers, other to the cart 
picche ? " Piers Plowman (C), vi. 12. 
cockerel (kok'er-el), n. [< ME. cokerel, cokerelle, 
appar. a double dim. of cocfc 1 . Cf. cockle*.] A 
young domestic cock ; specifically, the male of 
the domestic fowl up to one year old. Both 
cockerel and pullet are specifically called chicks, 
as distinguished from/owte. 
Cokerelle, gallus, gallulus. Prompt. Parv., p. 80. 
The cokerels flesshe that neuer crewe is better than the 
olde cockes flesshe. Babees Book (E. E. T. S.), p. 222. 
What wilt thou be, young cockerel, when thy spnrs 
Are grown to sharpness? Dryden. 
cockermegs (kok'er-megz), n. pi. [Origin ob- 
scure ; cf. cocker 1 .] In coal-mining, two props of 
timber placed obliquely to each other and rest- 
ing against a third one placed horizontally, so 
as to support the coal while it is being holed. 
The timber placed horizontally, and against which the 
other two abut on the face of the coal, is called the cock- 
erpole. Also called cockers and cockerxpra?ts. 
cockernonie, cockernony (kok'er-np-ni), . 
[Sc. ; origin obscure.] The gathering of a 
young woman's hair under a snood or fillet. 
[Scotch.] 
Jean maun baith sing her psalms and busk her cocker- 
nony the gate the gudeman likes, 
Scott, Bride of Lammermoor, xii. 
COCket 1 (kok'et), n. [< ME. *cocket, coket (not 
found except in ML. texts, the ML. reflex cock- 
cttum, cokctum, cokettum, ccquetum, and as per- 
haps in cocket 2 , q. v.), of uncertain origin; 
supposed to have orig. referred to the boat or 
lighter used in conveying merchandise to the 
shore, and hence transferred to the official cus- 
tom-house seal (cf. the relation of the Anglo- 
Chinese chop*, an official seal, to chop-boat), 
being then < OF. coquet, a small boat, a cock- 
boat, dim. of coque, a boat: see cock*. Cf. cock- 
et 2 , cocket-bread.] In England 1. A seal of 
the custom-house. 2. A scroll of parchment 
sealed and delivered by the officers of the cus- 
tom-house to a merchant as a warrant that his 
merchandise is entered. 
The foresaid marchants were not wont to pay for a 
rocket for the conueyance * transportation of their goods 
put of the realme (albeit many names were written there- 
in) more then 4. d. llakluyt's Voyages, I. 172. 
3. The office of entry. 4f. A stamp; an offi- 
cial seal of any kind. 
COcketH (kok'et), v. t. [< cocked, n.] To stamp 
or mark with a cocket. See cocket 1 , n., 4. 
COCket'^t (kok'et), . [< ME. coket, of uncertain 
origin ; supposed to be short for coket-bred, 
mod. cocket-bread, that is, bread that has been 
inspected and stamped with the official seal, < 
cocke ft.] 1. Same as cocket-bread. 
No beggere eten bred that benes inne coome, 
Bote coket and cler-matin an of clene whete ; 
Ne non halfpeny ale in none wyse drynke. 
Piers Plowman (A), vii. 292. 
2. A loaf or cake of cocket-bread. See first 
extract under cocket-bread. 3. A measure. 
See first extract under cocket-bread. 
cocket 3 t (kok'et), a. and n. [Also cocket, coc- 
quet; appar. (with ref . perhaps to cockish, cocky) 
< OF. coquet, a little cock (dim. of cog, a cock) 
(> coqueter, chuck as a cock, swagger, strut), 
mod. F. coquet, coquette, coquet: see coquet.] 
I. n. Brisk; pert; saucy. 
cockhorse 
Arcrestf. [F.], crested, copped, having a great crest or 
comb, as a cock ; also, cockit, proud, saucy, stately, lusty, 
crest-risen. Unyuelu, proud, cocket, scornful, braggard, 
vainglorious. Cotgrave. 
II. . A pert, swaggering fellow ; a gallant. 
COCket 4 t, . t. [Origin obscure.] To join or 
fasten in building. 
To joyne or fasten in building, as one joyste or stone is 
cockettcd within another. Thoiiuts, Diet., 1644. 
cocket-breadt (kok'et-bred), n. [See cocket 2 .] 
The second quality of wheat bread, the finest 
being wastel. Also called cocket. 
Bread-cocket of a farthing, of the same corn and Bultel, 
shall weigh more than Wastel by ii/s. And Cocket-Bread 
made of corn of lower Price shall weigh more than Wastel 
by v/s. Bread made into a Sinmel, shall weigh ii/s. less 
than Wastel. Bread made of the whole wheat shall 
weigh a Cocket and a half, so that a cocket shall weigh 
more than a Wastel by v/s. Bread of Treet shall weigh 
two Wastels : and Bread of common wheat shall weigh two 
great Cockets. Statute of Bread and Ale, 51 Hen. III. 
I believe Cocket-bread or Cocket was only hard sea-bisket ; 
either so-called because cocketted or marked with a pe- 
culiar stamp or cocket : or also because made for the use 
of Cock-swains or Seamen. This is but my conjecture ; 
For no author has yet hit upon the sense of the word or 
Derivation of it. Cou'ell. 
COckey (kok'i), w. [E. dial.] A common sewer. 
Britton ; Halliwell. 
cockeye (kok'i), . [Appar. < cock 2 + eye; 
Skeat derives cock- from Gael, caog, wink; cf. 
caog-shuil, a squint eye, caogail, winking, squint- 
ing.] 1. A squinting eye ; strabismus. 2. The 
depression on the balance-rynd of a millstone 
that receives the point of the spindle. 3. In a 
harness, the loop at the end of a trace, by means 
of which it is attached to the swingletree. 
A-COCkeye, adv. phr., asquint ; obliquely. 
As I was hunting in the park, I saw Cupid shooting a 
cofkhye into your face, and gazing after his arrow, it fell 
into mine eye. Chapman, Blind Beggar of Alexandria. 
cockeyed (kok'Id), a. [< cockeye + -ed 2 .] Hav- 
ing a squinting eye; cross-eyed. 
cock-feather (kok'feTH"er), . In archery, the 
feather which stands up on the arrow when it is 
rightly placed upon the string, perpendicularly 
above the cock or notch. 
cock-fight (kok'fit), n. A match or contest of 
cocks; a very ancient sport, in which cocks, 
usually armed with long steel spurs bound to 
the shanks, are set to fight with each other, 
commonly in a " pit," so called. 
cock-fighter (kok'fT'ter), n. One who engages 
in cock-fighting. 
cock-fighting (kok'fi"ting), n. and a. I. H. The 
fighting of cocks as a sport. 
In a Word, Cock-fighting is an heathenish Mode of Diver- 
sion from the first, ami at this Day ought certainly to be 
confined to barbarous Nations. 
Bourne's Pop. Antiq. (1777), p. 379. 
In the reign of Edward III. cock-fighting became a fash- 
ionable amusement ; it was then taken up more seriously 
than it formerly had been, and the practice extended to 
grown persons. Strutt, Sports and Pastimes, p. 376. 
To beat cock-fighting, to go beyond one's expectations ; 
surpass everything. [Colloq.] 
The Squire faltered out, " Well, this beats cockfighting ! 
the man's as mad as a March hare ! " 
Bulwer, My Novel, iii. 11. 
II. a. Addicted to the sport of fighting cocks ; 
having the tastes and habits of a cock-fighter. 
The ne'er-do-well sons of cockfighting baronets. 
G. A. Sala, The Ship-Chandler. 
COCk-garden (kok'gar'dn), n. Same as cockle- 
garden. 
cockgrass (kok'gras), 7i. Darnel. [Prov. Eng.] 
cockhead (kok'hed), . The top point of the 
spindle of a millstone. 
COCk-hedge (kok'hej), n. [Prob. a var. of quick- 
hedge ; cf. ME. CMC, cwuc, var. of cicic, quick.] 
A quickset hedge. [Prov. Eng.] 
cockhoop (kok'hOp), n. A bullfinch. [Prov. 
Eng.] 
cockhorse (kok'hors), n. and a. [Appar. orig. 
a nursery term ; cf. E. dial, cop-horse, a child's 
name for a horse, a toy horse. The allusion to 
coeA-i is prob. fanciful, though some would find 
here a survival of an ancient myth, connecting 
the term with the griffin myth and the fabulous 
'nnrateKTpvuv, ' horse-cock,' in JEschylus and 
Aristophanes.] I. n. A child's rocking-horse 
or hobby-horse : commonly used in the adver- 
bial phrase on cockhorse, a-cockhorse, on horse- 
back, or as if on horseback (as when a child 
rides on a broomstick) ; hence, in an elevated 
position ; elated ; on the high horse. 
Abated to an ebb so low that boys 
A'-cock-horse frisk'd about me without plunge. 
Ford, Lady's Trial, iii. 3. 
When you would have a Child go to such a place, and 
you find him unwilling, you tell him he shall ride a Cock- 
horse, and then he will go presently. 
Selden, Table-Talk, p. 96. 
