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PlainSpell

cock

/kɑk/noun, verb, interjection

cock is spelled C-O-C-K: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 17 times per million words in written English, the 4,838th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, cock means “A rooster: a male gallinaceous bird, especially a male domestic chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of cock is cocks.

How many letters and syllables are in cock?

Letters4: C-O-C-K
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing17 times per million words; the 4,838th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is cock?

Cock appears 17 times per million words in written English, the 4,838th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce cock?

  • UK /kɒk/
  • US /kɑk/

Cock has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-cock.ogg, En-us-cock.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with cock

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

caulk vs cock0 B

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with cock?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as cock from its last stressed vowel (/ɑk/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of cock

  • cocks plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • cocking participle, present
  • cocked participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does cock mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    A rooster: a male gallinaceous bird, especially a male domestic chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus).

    A forlyued cok leiþ eiren in his laste elde... and ȝif any venemous worme sittiþ on broode þerevppon in þe canyculer dayes, þerof is igendrid... a cocatrice.

  2. 2

    A cock pigeon.

  3. 3

    A valve or tap for controlling flow in plumbing.

  4. 4

    The hammer of a firearm trigger mechanism.

  5. 5

    colloquialvulgarA penis.

  6. 6

    The circle at the end of the rink.

  7. 7

    The state of being cocked; an upward turn, tilt or angle.

  8. 8

    CommonwealthIrelandUKderogatoryslangA stupid, obnoxious or contemptible person.

  9. 9

    A small conical pile of hay or grass.

    Near-synonyms: rick, stook, shock

  10. 10

    Vulva, vagina.

    Born in the canebrake and you were suckled by a bear, Jumped right through your mammy's cock and never touched a hair.

  11. 11

    Abbreviation of cock-boat, a type of small boat.

verb

  1. 1

    To lift the cock of a firearm or crossbow; to prepare (a gun or crossbow) to be fired.

  2. 2

    To be prepared to be triggered by having the cock lifted.

    In the darkness, the gun cocked loudly.

  3. 3

    To erect; to turn up.

  4. 4

    IrelandUKslangTo copulate with; (by extension, as with fuck) to mess up, to damage, to destroy.

    Foster's Lager TV commercial, 1980s "Please tell me the way to Cockfosters." ... "Drink it warm, mate."

  5. 5

    To turn or twist something upwards or to one side; to lift or tilt (e.g. headwear) boastfully.

    He cocked his hat jauntily.

  6. 6

    datedTo turn (the eye) obliquely and partially close its lid, as an expression of derision or insinuation.

  7. 7

    datedTo strut; to swagger; to look big, pert, or menacing.

  8. 8

    obsoleteTo make a nestle-cock of, to pamper or spoil (a child).

  9. 9

    To form into piles.

interjection

  1. 1

    IrelandUKslangExpression of annoyance.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Cock in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchmâle (any male bird), chien (hammer of a firearm trigger mechanism), gland, con, conne, débile (slang: stupid person)
GermanMännchen (any male bird), Tauber, Täuber, Tauberich, Täuberich, Taubenmännchen (male pigeon)
Portugueseave-macho (any male bird), cão (hammer of a firearm trigger mechanism), otário (slang: stupid person), pombo (male pigeon), inclinar (state of being cocked), boi (informal: term of address)
Spanishave macho (any male bird)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does cock come from?

From Middle English cok, from Old English coc, cocc (“cock, male bird”), from Proto-West Germanic *kokk, from Proto-Germanic *kukkaz (“cock”), probably of onomatopoeic origin.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after cock