COCK OF THE WALK, a master spirit, head of a party. Places where poultry are fed are called WALKS, and the barn-door cocks invariably fight for the supremacy till one has obtained it.
COCKS, fictitious narratives, in verse or prose, of murders, fires, and terrible accidents, sold in the streets as true accounts. The man who hawks them, a patterer, often changes the scene of the awful event to suit the taste of the neighbourhood he is trying to delude. Possibly a corruption of cook, a cooked statement, or, as a correspondent suggests, the COCK LANE Ghost may have given rise to the term. This had a great run, and was a rich harvest to the running stationers.
COCK ONE’S TOES, to die.
COCK ROBIN SHOP, a small printer’s office, where low wages are paid to journeymen who have never served a regular apprenticeship.
COCKSHY, a game at fairs and races, where trinkets are set upon sticks, and for one penny three throws at them are accorded, the thrower keeping whatever he knocks off. From the ancient game of throwing or “shying” at live cocks.
COCKSURE, certain.
COCKY, pert, saucy.
COCKYOLY BIRDS, little birds, frequently called “dickey birds.”—Kingsley’s Two Years Ago.
COCK, “to COCK your eye,” to shut or wink one eye.
COCUM, advantage, luck, cunning, or sly, “to fight COCUM,” to be wily and cautious.