cockcrowing en · NOUN
Etymology
From Middle English cok crowynge; equivalent to cock + crowing.
Meanings
-
(countable, uncountable) The 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:
- (countable, uncountable) cockcrow; daybreak
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| cockcrowings | Number=Plur | lexicographic |