cock of the walk

cock ¹  (kk)

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 leader or chief.

4. A faucet or valve by which the flow of a liquid or gas can be regulated.

5.

a. The hammer of a firearm.

b. The position of the hammer of a firearm when ready for firing.

6. A tilting or jaunty turn upward: the cock of a hat.

7. Vulgar Slang The penis.

8. Archaic The characteristic cry of a rooster early in the morning.

v. cocked, cock·ing, cocks

v.tr.

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.

v.intr.

1. To set the hammer of a firearm in a position ready for firing.

2. To turn or stick up.

3. To strut; swagger.

Idioms:

cock a snoot/snook Slang

To express scorn or derision by or as if by placing the thumb on the nose and wiggling the fingers; thumb one's nose: "[He] could cock a snoot at the rest of the . . . world and blithely go his own way" (Elie Kedourie).

cock of the walk

An overbearing or domineering person.

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[Middle English cok, from Old English cocc, probably from Late Latin coccus, from coco, a cackling, of imitative origin.]

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cock ²  (kk)

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.

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[Middle English cok.]

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cock of the walk

n

Informal a person who asserts himself in a strutting pompous way