# cock

> English word · Noun · IPA /kɒk/ · frequency rank #4,839

## Definitions
1. A male bird, especially:
2. A male bird, especially:
3. A valve or tap for controlling flow in plumbing.
4. The hammer of a firearm trigger mechanism.
5. A penis.
6. The circle at the end of the rink.
7. The state of being cocked; an upward turn, tilt or angle.
8. A stupid, obnoxious or contemptible person.
9. Nonsense; rubbish; a fraud.
10. An apocryphal story supposedly describing a public event, once sold by street hawkers.
11. A man; a fellow.
12. A boastful tilt of one's head or hat.
13. Shuttlecock.
14. A vane in the shape of a cock; a weathercock.
15. A chief person; a leader or master.
16. A leading thing.
17. The crow of a cock, especially the first crow in the morning; cockcrow.
18. A male fish, especially a salmon or trout.
19. The style or gnomon of a sundial.
20. The indicator of a balance.
21. The bridge piece that affords a bearing for the pivot of a balance in a clock or watch.

## Etymology
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.
Cognate with Middle Dutch cocke (“cock, male bird”) and Old Norse kokkr ("cock"; whence Danish kok (“cock”), dialectal Swedish kokk (“cock”)). Reinforced by Old French coc, from the same origin. The sense "penis" is attested since at least the 1610s, with the compound pillicock (“penis”) attested since 1325.

## Easily confused with
- **cop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cock-vs-cop)
- **con** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cock-vs-con)
- **cow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cock-vs-cow)
- **cos** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cock-vs-cos)
- **col** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cock-vs-col)
- **cox** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cock-vs-cox)
- **cod** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cock-vs-cod)
- **cor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cock-vs-cor)
- **coo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cock-vs-coo)
- **cot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cock-vs-cot)
- **CPC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cock-vs-cpc)
- **Coe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cock-vs-coe)
- **coz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cock-vs-coz)
- **coy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cock-vs-coy)
- **cog** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cock-vs-cog)
- **Cov** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cock-vs-cov)
- **CTC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cock-vs-ctc)
- **come** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cock-vs-come)
- **cost** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cock-vs-cost)
- **cool** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cock-vs-cool)

## Common misspellings (6)
`ccock`, `ccok`, `cocck`, `cockk`, `cokc`, `occk`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/cock