Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A fish of the genus Trigla, as T. cuculus; a gurnard.
  • noun The sea-plover, Squatarola helvetica.
  • noun In a marine steam-engine, a cock or valve in the injection water-pipe which passes from the sea to the condenser.
  • noun Any cock or valve communicating through a vessel's hull with the sea.
  • noun A sea-rover or viking.

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

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Examples

  • We passed on to beautiful creatures, the kihi-kihi, or sea-cock, with alternate black and yellow transverse bands on his body; the hinalea, like a glorified mullet, with bright green, longitudinal bands on a dark shining head, a purple body of different shades, and a blue spotted tail with a yellow tip.

    The Hawaiian Archipelago Isabella Lucy 2004

  • "I opened the sea-cock, cast it off, and let it drift out into the bight on the ebb-tide one night recently."

    Kindred of the Dust 1918

  • Finding no one, he went into the engine-room and opened the sea-cock.

    Kindred of the Dust 1918

  • And that is how ex-President Dom Corria Antonio De Sylva acquired the nucleus of his fleet, though, unhappily, an accident to a sea-cock forthwith deprived him of a most useful and seaworthy steam launch.

    The Stowaway Girl Louis Tracy 1895

  • Then open your exhaust an 'unscrew a sea-cock ....

    The Stowaway Girl Louis Tracy 1895

  • The sea-cock was then opened, and the chamber began to slowly fill with water.

    The Log of the Flying Fish A Story of Aerial and Submarine Peril and Adventure Harry Collingwood 1886

  • This chamber was illuminated by an electric lamp, the light of which clearly revealed the whereabouts of the sea-cock, and of the fastenings to the trap-door, all of which the professor pointed out to his companions, at the same time explaining the method of working them.

    The Log of the Flying Fish A Story of Aerial and Submarine Peril and Adventure Harry Collingwood 1886

  • They accordingly entered the pilot-house forthwith, closing the door securely after them -- the air-pump was stopped, the sea-cock communicating with the water-chambers was opened, and the _Flying Fish_, with an easy imperceptible motion, sank gently beneath the placid waters, to rest, a minute or two later, on a bed of gravel at the bottom of the Channel.

    The Log of the Flying Fish A Story of Aerial and Submarine Peril and Adventure Harry Collingwood 1886

  • We passed on to beautiful creatures, the kihi-kihi, or sea-cock, with alternate black and yellow transverse bands on his body; the hinalea, like a glorified mullet, with bright green, longitudinal bands on a dark shining head, a purple body of different shades, and

    The Hawaiian Archipelago 1867

  • "Aha! such a gay young sea-cock does not come hither for naught.

    Hereward, the Last of the English Charles Kingsley 1847

Comments

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  • "An opening through the hull, with a valve, to let a controllable amount of seawater into the ship." A Sea of Words, 392.

    I looked it up after seeing sweetening-cock in a novel (see sweetening-cock for a usage note).

    March 7, 2008