English · Idiom Attested

cock of the walk

In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.

Sense 1

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

One who dominates others within a group.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Người chi phối những người khác trong nhóm

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

And the young cock of the walk?

So in two years flat, after riding on the crest of a wave, people who had been cock of the walk in ICI suddenly found themselves at the bottom of the league.

British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Metaphor (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).

Sense 2

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

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. At schools where this phrase was originally much used, it has been diminished to "COCK" only.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Người đứng đầu, lãnh đạo

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Era: ca. 1874 (Victorian)

Where it’s used: Origin British & Irish English

Sources & notes

Historical definition reproduced from Hotten’s The Slang Dictionary (1874, public domain; Project Gutenberg #42108, retrieved 2026-07-31). Reflects the attitudes of its era.

Topics: Historical slang (1800s)

Common questions

What does “cock of the walk” mean?

One who dominates others within a group.

Is “cock of the walk” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.