cog

1
[ kog, kawg ]
See synonyms for cog on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a gear tooth, formerly especially one of hardwood or metal, fitted into a slot in a gearwheel of less durable material.

  1. a person who plays a minor part in a large organization, activity, etc.: He's just a small cog in the financial department.

verb (used without object),cogged, cog·ging.
  1. (of an electric motor) to move jerkily.

verb (used with object),cogged, cog·ging.
  1. to roll or hammer (an ingot) into a bloom or slab.

Idioms about cog

  1. slip a cog, to make a blunder; err: One of the clerks must have slipped a cog.

Origin of cog

1
First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English cogge, probably from a North Germanic language; compare Swedish kugge, Norwegian kugg “cog”; akin to German Kugel “bullet, ball, shot,” Old English cycgel (see cudgel)

Other definitions for cog (2 of 4)

cog2
[ kog, kawg ]

verb (used with object),cogged, cog·ging.
  1. to manipulate or load (dice) unfairly.

verb (used without object),cogged, cog·ging.
  1. to cheat, especially at dice.

Origin of cog

2
First recorded in 1525–35; origin uncertain

Other definitions for cog (3 of 4)

cog3
[ kog, kawg ]

noun
  1. Carpentry. (in a cogged joint) the tongue in one timber, fitting into a corresponding slot in another.

  2. Mining. a cluster of timber supports for a roof.: Compare chock (def. 4).

verb (used with or without object),cogged, cog·ging.
  1. Carpentry. to join with a cog.

Origin of cog

3
1855–60; special use of cog1; replacing cock in same sense, special use of cock1 (in sense of projection); see coak

Other definitions for cog. (4 of 4)

cog.

abbreviation
  1. cognate.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use cog in a sentence

  • Hundreds and hundreds of wheels, pins, cogs and springs filled the air like a cloud and then rattled like hail upon the floor.

  • The cogs emitted a grating, crunching sound, as of quartz in a stone-crusher, and then subsided.

    Bizarre | Lawton Mackall
  • The speaker was the man whom Barton had rescued from the cogs and wheels and springs of an infuriated engine.

    The Mark Of Cain | Andrew Lang

British Dictionary definitions for cog (1 of 3)

cog1

/ (kɒɡ) /


noun
  1. any of the teeth or projections on the rim of a gearwheel or sprocket

  2. a gearwheel, esp a small one

  1. a person or thing playing a small part in a large organization or process

verbcogs, cogging or cogged
  1. (tr) metallurgy to roll (cast-steel ingots) to convert them into blooms

Origin of cog

1
C13: of Scandinavian origin; compare Danish kogge, Swedish kugge, Norwegian kug

British Dictionary definitions for cog (2 of 3)

cog2

/ (kɒɡ) /


verbcogs, cogging or cogged
  1. slang to cheat (in a game, esp dice), as by loading a dice

Origin of cog

2
C16: originally a dice-playing term, of unknown origin

British Dictionary definitions for cog (3 of 3)

cog3

/ (kɒɡ) /


noun
  1. a tenon that projects from the end of a timber beam for fitting into a mortise

verbcogs, cogging or cogged
  1. (tr) to join (pieces of wood) with cogs

Origin of cog

3
C19: of uncertain origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with cog

cog

In addition to the idiom beginning with cog

  • cog in the wheel

also see:

  • slip a cog

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.