English · Idiom Historical

to cry cock

Preserved but no longer current.

Meaning · English

To claim the victory; to assert oneself to be the superior. As a "cock of the walk" (<?.v.) is the chief or ruler of the whole walk, so to cry cock is to claim this cockship.

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.

Topics: Historical slang (1800s)

Common questions

What does “to cry cock” mean?

To claim the victory; to assert oneself to be the superior. As a "cock of the walk" (<?.v.) is the chief or ruler of the whole walk, so to cry cock is to claim this cockship.

Is “to cry cock” formal or informal?

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

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