Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A cock-fighter; one who makes a practice of fighting game-cocks, or of training them for fighting.
  • noun A dog of the spaniel kind, trained to start woodcock and snipe in woods and marshes.
  • noun A quiver.
  • noun plural High shoes or half-boots, laced or buttoned.
  • noun plural Thick stockings without feet, used as an outside protection for the lower part of the leg.
  • noun plural Same as cockermegs.
  • noun A fighter; a bully.
  • To fondle; indulge; treat with excessive tenderness; pamper; spoil.
  • noun A reaper.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To treat with too great tenderness; to fondle; to indulge; to pamper.
  • noun obsolete A rustic high shoe or half-boots.
  • noun obsolete One given to cockfighting.
  • noun (Zoöl.) A small dog of the spaniel kind, used for starting up woodcocks, etc.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun dated someone who breed gamecocks, or arranges cockfights
  • noun a cocker spaniel
  • verb To indulge or pamper (someone).
  • noun A rustic high shoe, half-boots

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb treat with excessive indulgence
  • noun a small breed with wavy silky hair; originally developed in England

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From cock (the bird).

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Origin uncertain.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English coker "a quiver, boot" from Old English cocer "quiver, case" from Proto-Germanic *kukur- (“container, case”). More at quiver.

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Examples

  • The most serious objection to the use of the cocker is the difficulty of teaching him to distinguish his game, and confine himself within bounds; for he will too often flush everything that comes within his reach.

    The Dog William Youatt 1811

  • But the wavy-coated breed we officially call the cocker spaniel came later.

    msnbc.com: Top msnbc.com headlines 2008

  • But the wavy-coated breed we officially call the cocker spaniel came later.

    msnbc.com: Top msnbc.com headlines 2008

  • But the wavy-coated breed we officially call the cocker spaniel came later.

    msnbc.com: Top msnbc.com headlines 2008

  • 'ever followed by a modern on the probably or how to build a toilet femdom is correctly a major future in name cocker spaniels.

    Wii-volution 2010

  • Flint's ancestors came from Spain and were bred in the UK to specifically catch Eurasian Woodcocks, which is where the term 'cocker' comes from.

    Home | Mail Online 2010

  • "For example, a greyhound will get colder faster than a cocker spaniel."

    Pet Owners Beware: Kitten Froze In Airplane Hold AP 2011

  • My father bought a dog for Laura, a cocker spaniel she named Raisinet.

    The Adults Alison Espach 2011

  • Making use of its big database, PetSmart sent out 117,000 emails to cocker spaniel and Great Pyrenees owners who had entered contact information after bringing in their pets for grooming.

    Dogs Get Cancer Like People, and Hold Clues to Cures Amy Dockser Marcus 2012

  • "For example, a greyhound will get colder faster than a cocker spaniel."

    Pet Owners Beware: Kitten Froze In Airplane Hold AP 2011

Comments

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  • Mmmm, a reaper.

    January 11, 2016

  • See also coker.

    January 11, 2016