cockroach
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of cockroach
1615–25; < Spanish cucaracha, of uncertain origin, assimilated by folk etymology to cock 1, roach 2
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Their highly organized societies raise an obvious question: how did insects with such advanced social systems evolve from solitary ancestors that closely resembled modern cockroaches?
From Science Daily
Some readers imagine Kafka’s protagonist, Gregor Samsa, a hardworking salesman in a city that seems analogous to Kafka’s native Prague, has morphed into a cockroach.
Spencer Pratt is accustomed to being labeled a villain, but a more fitting descriptor might be “cockroach.”
From Los Angeles Times
On the back of his left hand was a doodle of a cockroach.
From Literature
Not enough “cockroach” losses, in the form of frauds or surprising losses, have emerged so far to derail that growth yet.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
