cockcrow

[ kok-kroh ]
See synonyms for cockcrow on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the time at which a cock characteristically crows; daybreak; dawn: He was in the kitchen each morning by cockcrow, making coffee and preparing breakfast.

Origin of cockcrow

1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English; see origin at cock1, crow2
  • Also cock crow·ing [kok-kroh-ing] /ˈkɒkˌkroʊ ɪŋ/ .

Words Nearby cockcrow

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

How to use cockcrow in a sentence

  • I was up at cockcrow, heard Mass at the Grande glise, and bade good-bye to my amiable hostess.

  • Then he turned round and the swathed figures disappeared suddenly as ghosts at cockcrow.

    Morocco | S.L. Bensusan
  • Each day has twelve hours, twice the length of ours, of which the first begins at cockcrow.

  • Gigi, if you get up before cockcrow again I'll break your nose the next night while you sleep.

    Such is Life | Frank Wedekind
  • At the second cockcrow she tried to get into the coffin, and unavailingly begged him to take out the cross.

    The Grateful Dead | Gordon Hall Gerould

British Dictionary definitions for cockcrow

cockcrow

cockcrowing

/ (ˈkɒkˌkrəʊ) /


noun
  1. daybreak

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