cocker

cock·er
C3O1C3K5E1R1
UK/ˈkɒkə/US/ˈkɑkəɹ/

noun

One who breeds gamecocks or engages in the sport of cockfighting.

Similar
cockfighterfriendcossetpamperpossetcocker spanielEnglish cocker spanielfeatherbed
OriginMiddle English coker ← Old English cocer ← Proto-West Germanic *kukur →
Less commonScrabble 14
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

cocker1

nouncocker (plural cockers)

plural cockers

  1. One who breeds gamecocks or engages in the sport of cockfighting.

    Synonyms: cockfighter

  2. datedOne who hunts woodcocks.
  3. colloquialA cocker spaniel, either of two breeds of dogs originally bred for hunting woodcocks.
  4. A device that aids in cocking a crossbow.

    The standard default cocking mechanism is the rope cocker.

    2013, Todd A. Kuhn, Shooter's Bible Guide to Bowhunting
    2 more examples

    You have your choice of two stock-mounted cocking aids: the Acudraw 50, an integral rope cocker, or the Acudraw crank-operated device.

    2007, Field and Stream - Volume 112, page 62

    The down side is that they are hard to draw without special lever cockers.

    2011, Ritchie R. Moorhead, The Kid Looks Back-Short Stories & Tall Tales, page 48

cocker2

nouncocker (plural cockers)

plural cockers

  1. A rustic high shoe; half-boot.
  2. obsoleteA quiver.

cocker3

nouncocker (plural cockers)

plural cockers

  1. UKinformalFriend, mate.

    He said, 'Not my cup of Darjeeling, cocker. I've been more intellectually challenged at a kiddies' swimming gala.'

    2004, Sue Townsend, Adrian Mole and The Weapons of Mass Destruction, →ISBN, page 361
    1 more example

    I been to see 'im. Not pretty. Ward sister tell me 'e'll be alright but not for a while yet. Concussion. Bloody 'ell! Lucky 'e wasn't killed, lump of lead like that. Lucky for you too, cocker...

    1993, Arnold Wesker, Bluey

    Synonyms: friend

verbcocker (third-person singular simple present cockers, present participle cockering, simple past and past participle cockered)

present singular third person cockers · participle present cockering · participle past cockered · past cockered

  1. To make a nestle-cock of; to indulge or pamper (particularly of children).

    […] shall a beardless boy, A cocker’d silken wanton, brave our fields […]?

    c. 1596, William Shakespeare, King John, act V, scene 1
    2 more examples

    Cocker thy childe, and hee ſhall make thee afraid: play with him and he will bring thee to heauinesse.

    1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ecclesiasticus 30:9

    But if you was to ask your ma, she would tell you that poor folks can no ways afford to cocker themselves up as lying-in ladies do.

    1879, Jean Ingelow, chapter 1, in Sarah De Berenger, Boston: Roberts Brothers, page 6

    Synonyms: cosset, pamper, posset

Cocker4

proper nounCocker (countable and uncountable, plural Cockers)

plural Cockers

  1. countableuncountableA surname.
  2. countableuncountableA river in Cumbria, England, which joins the Derwent at Cockermouth.
  3. countableuncountableA short river in Lancashire, England, which flows into the Lune estuary.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounOne who breeds gamecocks or engages in the sport of cockfighting.

Similar
cockfighter

nounFriend, mate.

Similar
friend

verbTo make a nestle-cock of; to indulge or pamper (particularly of children).

Similar
cossetpamperposset

More synonyms by meaning

nouna small breed with wavy silky hair; originally developed in England

Similar
cocker spanielEnglish cocker spaniel
Broader
spaniel

verbtreat with excessive indulgence

Similar
pamperfeatherbedcossetbabycoddlemollycoddlespoilindulge
Broader
treathandledo by
Also see
amigobabberbabyboyfriendbudbuddybullychumcocker spanielcockfightercoddlecossetcovecronydawgenglish cocker spanielfeatherbedfriendggeezgeezerhomieindulgematemollycoddlepamperspoilsportwoadie

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

cocker · noun

From cock (“a male bird, especially a rooster”) and its derivative cocking (“the hunting of gamecocks”), + -er (occupational suffix) or + -er (agent noun suffix).

Full word history & related roots →

cocker · noun

  1. Proto-Mongolic*kökexür“leather vessel for liquids”
  2. Proto-West Germanic*kukur“container, case”
  3. Old Englishcocer“quiver, case”
  4. Middle Englishcoker“a quiver, boot”
  5. Englishcocker

From Middle English coker (“a quiver, boot”) from Old English cocer (“quiver, case”) from Proto-West Germanic *kukur (“container, case”), said to be from Hunnic, possibly from Proto-Mongolic *kökexür (“leather vessel for liquids”). More at quiver.

More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic

Full word history & related roots →

cocker · noun, verb

  1. Middle Englishcokeren“to pamper, coddle”
  2. Englishcocker

Uncertain. Perhaps from Middle English cokeren (“to pamper, coddle”); compare Welsh cocru (“to indulge, fondle”), French coqueliner (“to dandle, to imitate the crow of a cock, to run after the girls”), and English cockle and cock (“rooster; to spoil”).

More words from Middle English

Full word history & related roots →

Cocker · proper noun

  1. Proto-Brythonic*kukrā“the crooked one”
  2. EnglishCocker

* As an English surname, from the verb cock (“to fight, wrangle”), itself from the bird. The river in Lancashire is also from the bird. * Also as an English surname, from the noun cock (sense 3) (“heap of hay”). * As a German surname, Americanized from Kocher. * The river in Cumbria is of Brythonic origin, from Proto-Brythonic *kukrā (“the crooked one”).

More words from Proto-Brythonic

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with cocker

soccerlockerblockerrockerstockerockerdoor knockersurf rockertoccertwoccerwrite blocker
All rhymes →

Anagrams

recock
Cite this entry
APA

cocker. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cocker

MLA

“cocker.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cocker. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cocker,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cocker.

Source: cocker on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.