Cock

A cock is:

A male chicken. See Rooster for more information. This is the original meaning.
- Cockfighting is a sport in which two male chickens are made to fight one another for dominance.
- The word rooster for a male chicken arose, especially in the USA, as a euphemism for cock, to avoid the vulgarism below for penis.
In ornithologist's usage a male bird (a female is a "hen").
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 brewerys 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.
A vulgarism for the penis.
- The shape and function of the type of mechanism called the cock, and the male symbolism of the rooster, gives this term double reinforcement.
- This is occasionally used for a hateful man, similar to dick, prick, or the feminine cunt.

A part of a clock or watch used to support an outrigger bearing for a gear or lever. It is green in the image.
- 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.

See also