Cock - Definition and Overview

A cock is:

• a male bird (a female is a "hen").
  • in particular a male chicken ("rooster or cockerel" if under one year old). Cockfighting is a sport in which two male chickens are made to fight one another. The word rooster for a male chicken arose, especially in the USA, as a euphemism for cock, to avoid the vulgarism below for penis.

• a vulgarism for the penis.

• a type of tap, faucet or valve.
  • Steam cock, is a drain valve on a steam engine cylinder.
  • Bib cock, a small type of valve.
  • Sample cock, small valve fitted in brewerys and other process industries to check the product during manufacture.
  • Stop cock to turn off the mains supply of water to a house.
  • Petcock, a small valve, primarily for draining liquid or releasing pressure from a vessel.

• 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. Muskets usually have two "cocked" positions, the from first of which it's easy to ready the gun for firing, but keeping the trigger locked. Origin of the term "going off at half cock" or "going off half cocked" which result in a mis-fire or a failure to fire.

Cock has several other meanings: see Wiktionary:cock