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Synonyms

cot

1 American  

abbreviation

Trigonometry.

  1. cotangent.

cot 2 American  
[kot] / kɒt /

noun

  1. a light portable bed, especially one of canvas on a folding frame.

  2. British. a child's crib.

  3. a light bedstead.

  4. Nautical. a hammocklike bed stiffened by a suspended frame.

cot 3 American  
[kot] / kɒt /

noun

  1. a small house; cottage; hut.

  2. a small place of shelter.

  3. a sheath or protective covering, as for an injured finger or toe.

cot 1 British  
/ kɒt /

noun

  1. a child's boxlike bed, usually incorporating vertical bars

  2. a collapsible or portable bed

  3. a light bedstead

  4. nautical a hammock-like bed with a stiff frame

"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
cot 2 British  
/ kɒt /

abbreviation

  1. cotangent

"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
cot 3 British  
/ kɒt /

noun

  1. literary a small cottage

  2. Also called: cote. 

    1. a small shelter, esp one for pigeons, sheep, etc

    2. ( in combination )

      dovecot

  3. another name for fingerstall

"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
cot 4 British  
/ kɒt /

verb

  1. dialect to entangle or become entangled

"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
cot Scientific  

  1. Abbreviation of cotangent

Etymology

Origin of cot2

1625–35; < Hindi khāṭ < Prakrit khaṭṭā < Sanskrit khaṭvā; akin to Tamil kattil bedstead

Origin of cot3

before 900; Middle English, Old English cot (neuter; cote 1 ); cognate with Old Norse kot hut; akin to cubby, cove 1

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.

Marfisee and her students walked through the surrounding neighborhood, went cot to cot in the women’s dorm and held two informational sessions in December and January to answer patients’ questions.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 3, 2026

The law caught him: “a slot open, a cot waiting” in jail.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 1, 2026

Jake, nestled into his sleeping bag on a cot underneath the museum's gigantic suspended model of a blue whale, said he was "so happy to be here."

From Barron's • Oct. 25, 2025

Attempting a nap, Larette lies on the break room cot, eyes closed, to no avail.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 24, 2025

There was definitely writing there—but so tiny I had to climb again onto the cot and hold the paper close to the shaded bulb.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

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.