Cock
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cock may refer to:
- A male chicken, also called a rooster. This is the word's original meaning.
- In ornithologists' usage, the male of any bird (and a female is a "hen")
- A colloquial word for the penis. This usage has now rendered many of the original harmless meanings somewhat taboo.
- a type of tap, faucet or valve
- Steam cock, is a drain valve on a steam engine cylinder
- Bibcock, a small type of valve
- Sample cock, small valve fitted in breweries and other process industries to check the product during manufacture
- Stopcock to turn off the mains supply of water to a house. A Stopcock is also used in chemistry, the valve on a titration tube is called a stopcock
- Petcock, a small valve, primarily for draining liquid or releasing pressure from a vessel
- The shape and function of the type of mechanism called the cock, and the male symbolism of the rooster, gives this term double reinforcement
- "Dog's cock" is printer's slang for exclamation mark.[1]
- A part of a clock or watch used to support an outrigger bearing for a gear or lever
- Balance cock, supports the balance wheel in a watch
- Fly cock, supports the fly on a bracket clock
- A state of the hammer in a firearm. A gun may be "cocked" in readiness for firing. Flintlocks usually have two "cocked" positions, the first of which (half-cock) enables priming, but keeps the trigger locked. This is the origin of the term "going off at half cock" or "going off half-cocked", which describes premature firing
- An alternative name for a shuttlecock
- The NATO reporting name of the Antonov An-22
- A colloquial term of endearment for a mate/friend (also considered friendly when addressing a new acquaintance) in regional parts of the U.K., in particular throughout South Yorkshire, as in "What's up, cock?" [2]
[edit] See also
- Cock (surname)
- Caulk (a homophone in some North American dialects of English)
