cock-up
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
A mistake.
Register: slang, vulgar
Where it’s used:
Used
American English
Examples
If the zodiac was already developed in 2000 BC, it must have been kept as a cult secret or in some non-Babylonian country; this would be a 1500-year conspiracy theory. More likely is the individual cockup theory, viz. the naivety of Eudoxus himself.
Usage example from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30 via kaikki.org).
Common questions
What does “cock-up” mean?
A mistake.
Is “cock-up” formal or informal?
cock-up is generally slang, vulgar.