cowcatcher
noun
cowcatcher is spelled C-O-W-C-A-T-C-H-E-R: 10 letters. It appears about once in every 68 million words in written English, the 258,950th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, cowcatcher means “A plough-shaped device affixed to the front of a locomotive (or other large vehicle), usually wedge or V-shaped so as to push or deflect objects on…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of cowcatcher is cowcatchers.
How many letters and syllables are in cowcatcher?
| Letters | 10: C-O-W-C-A-T-C-H-E-R |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 68 million words; the 258,950th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is cowcatcher?
Cowcatcher appears about once in every 68 million words in written English, the 258,950th 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).
Forms of cowcatcher
- cowcatchers plural
- cow catcher
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does cowcatcher mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A plough-shaped device affixed to the front of a locomotive (or other large vehicle), usually wedge or V-shaped so as to push or deflect objects on the tracks out of the way, to clear out the train's path and prevent the risk of derailment or major damage to it.
- 2
An advertisement at the start of a program.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Cowcatcher in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense plough-like device on the front of a train locomotive:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | pare-buffle |
| German | Kuhfänger, Schienenräumer |
| Spanish | deflector de obstáculos |
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 cowcatcher come from?
From cow + catcher.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).