Meanings
nouncockcrowing (countable and uncountable, plural cockcrowings)
plural cockcrowings
- countableuncountableThe crowing sound of a cock.
We might have had hearts in our cradles; but, as I don't pretend to remember mine, I cannot say. Perhaps at sixteen, too, there is a sort of imagination of one; but it is a phantom which flits at the cockcrowing of reality.
1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Season”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, pages 91-92
Origin
- Middle Englishcok crowynge
- Englishcockcrowing
From Middle English cok crowynge; equivalent to cock + crowing.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
cockcrowing. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cockcrowing
MLA
“cockcrowing.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cockcrowing. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cockcrowing,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cockcrowing.
Source: cockcrowing on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.