fight cocum

verb

To be wily and cautious.

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Meanings

verbfight cocum (third-person singular simple present fights cocum, present participle fighting cocum, simple past and past participle fought cocum)

present singular third person fights cocum · participle present fighting cocum · participle past fought cocum · past fought cocum

  1. obsoletethieves' cantTo be wily and cautious.

    So Tim didn't fight cocum enough, and was grabbed.

    1848, George William MacArthur Reynolds, Esther de Medina: Or, The Crimes of London, page 79
    1 more example

    I have got the Yacks, so do not come it. Fight cocum.

    1859, Snowden's magistrates assistant, page 498

Origin

Hotten (see References) suggests that cocum might be related to the Scottish keek (“peep or pry”).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

fight cocum. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fight%20cocum

MLA

“fight cocum.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fight%20cocum. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fight cocum,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fight%20cocum.

Source: fight cocum on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.