The Cock and Bottle
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
By some said to be a corruption of the "Cork and Bottle," meaning that wine is sold there in bottles.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “The Cock and Bottle” mean?
By some said to be a corruption of the "Cork and Bottle," meaning that wine is sold there in bottles.
Is “The Cock and Bottle” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.