▪ I. ˈcocking, vbl. n.1
[f. cock v.1 + -ing1.]
† 1. Fighting, strife, contention. Obs.
| c 1230 Hali Meid. 47 Ne beð nan icrunet bute hwase treoweliche iþulke feht fihte, and wið strong cockunge ouercume hire flesch. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) V. 259 Þey ȝaf hem al to dronkenesse, kokkynge, strif, and envie. 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. 41 b, Betwene Aristippus and Diogenes the Cynike there was moche good cocking and striuing whether of them should win the spurres. |
2. = cock-fighting.
| 1546 Plumpton Corr. 251 Ye shall se..all our good coxs fight, if it plese you, & se the maner of our cocking. 1615 Markham Pleas. Princes (1635) 41 There is no pleasure more noble..then this pleasure of Cocking is. 1678 Lond. Gaz. No. 1282/4 Notice..there will be two great Matches of Cocking fought in His Majesties Cock-Pit at Newmarket. 1755 Gentl. Mag. XXV. 506 Idle and expensive diversions, such as cocking, horse-racing. 1886 W. Day Remin. 234 He was very fond of cocking. |
b. A cock-fight.
| 1630 R. Brathwait Eng. Gentl. (1641) 115 In these tolerable recreations of Horse-races, Cockings, Bowlings, etc. 1699 Sir W. Calverley Note-bk. (Surtees) 79, I went to Leeds, to the Cockings. 1812 J. Moors in Examiner 31 Aug. 551/2 He had been at a cocking. |
3. The shooting of wood-cocks.
| 1696 Aubrey Misc. (1721) 62 To diuertise himself with cocking in his father's park. 1857 Kingsley Two Y. Ago xi. (D.), There ought to be noble cocking in these woods. 1870 D. P. Blaine Encycl. Rur. Sports §2660 We have already noticed Wales..as affording good cocking. |
4. A turning or causing to project upward.
| 1678 Shadwell Timon i. Wks. 1720 II. 305 Pomp, and show, and holding up their heads And cocking of their noses. 1713 Guardian No. 91 He strives as much as possible to get above his size, by stretching, cocking, or the like. 1881 Besant & Rice Chapl. Fleet i. x, As for the fashions..one year it is the cocking of a hat. |
5. attrib. and Comb., as (sense 2) cocking-match; (sense 3) † cocking-cloth (see quot.); cocking-dog, -spaniel, a spaniel of a breed used in hunting wood-cocks, etc., a cocker; cocking-road (see cock-road).
| 1726 Dict. Rust. (ed. 3), Cocking-cloth, a Device to catch Pheasants with. 1731–6 Bailey, Cocking Cloth (with Fowlers), a Frame made of coarse canvas, about an ell square, tanned, with two sticks set across to keep it out, having a hole to look out at, and to put the nosel of a short gun through, for the shooting of Pheasants, etc. 1813 Trewman's Exeter Flying-Post 18 Nov. 1 A gentleman is in immediate want of..Cocking Dogs, such as have been regularly hunted for Woodcock only. 1830 Miss Mitford Village Ser. iv. (1863) 310 He is..famous for his breed of cocking spaniels. 1852 Thackeray Esmond ii. viii, Come along, and let's go see the Cocking-Match. |
▪ II. ˈcocking, vbl. n.2
[f. cock v.2 + -ing1.]
a. The action of drawing back the cock of a fire-arm.
| 1816 Byron Let. to Murray 15 Oct., Making mistakes in the way of cocking and priming. 1881 Greener Gun 202 The cocking is effected by the turning up of the finger-piece for loading. |
b. attrib. and Comb., as cocking-dog, cocking-handle, cocking-lifter, cocking-lever, cocking-lock, cocking-piece, cocking-rod, cocking-swivel; cocking-pistol, revolver, one in which the cock is raised independently of the trigger.
| 1858 Greener Gunnery 423 Possessing every requisite for a double-action cocking revolver. Ibid. 426 The cocking pistol would be too slow..The almost general adoption, in the present day, of the cocking-lock. 1881 ― Gun 335 The barrels upon being closed depress the cocking-lever. 1892 Greener Breech-Loader 26 There is in this no cocking-dog, but the forward ends of the tumblers are turned in, and engage with..a cocking-swivel. Ibid. 28 When the tumbler is down, the cocking-rod is freed. Ibid. 111 The cocking-lifters of hammerless guns. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXXII. 650/2 When released, the striker can be cocked by pulling out the cocking-piece by hand. 1905 Kynoch Jrnl. July-Sept. 141 The scear and cocking piece are on the right side of the action. 1917 Blackw. Mag. Mar. 382/2, I applied immediate action, pulled back the cocking-handle and pressed the trigger again. 1957 Rawnsley & Wright Night Fighter ii. 40 Work the cocking-handle of the gun up and down. |
▪ III. cocking, vbl. n.3
Carpentry: see cock v.3
▪ IV. cocking, vbl. n.4 and ppl. a.
Putting (hay, etc.) into cocks: see cock v.4
▪ V. † cocking, vbl. n.5 and ppl. a.
Obs. Cockering: see cock v.5
▪ VI. † ˈcocking, ppl. a. Obs.
[f. cock v.1 + -ing2.]
1. Fighting, wrangling, contentious.
| 1556 J. Heywood Spider & F. xliii. 20 In cockyng currish countenance. 1608 Day Hum. out of Br. v. ii, How can wee choose but get cocking children, when father and mother too are both of the game. |
2. Strutting, swaggering, insolent; cocky.
| 1676 Wycherley Pl. Dealer v. i, How many pert Cocking Cowards [hast thou call'd] stout? 1711 Steele Spect. No. 153 ¶1 The Cocking young Fellow who treads upon the Toes of his Elders. 1712 ― Ibid. No. 350 ¶2 This is visible in all the cocking Youths you see about this Town. |
Hence † ˈcockingly adv., in a cocking manner.
| 1548 Thomas Ital. Gram. & Dict. (1567), Prouerbiosamente, cockyngly or villainously. |