cock of the walk
the leader in a group, especially one with a conceited, domineering manner.
Origin of cock of the walk
1Words Nearby cock of the walk
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use cock of the walk in a sentence
So was his successful set-to in the brewery yard with Lefty Dinan, the Tenth street cock-of-the walk.
The Incendiary | W. A. (William Augustine) LeahyThe cock-of-the-walk led the band and he played on his own bill, which had holes in it, like a flute.
But in the window there was a peerless baseball with a rubber core, known as a cock-of-the-walk.
Hints to Pilgrims | Charles Stephen BrooksBut the big miner only looked him over like a cock-of-the-walk regarding a game bantam.
The Great White Tribe in Filipinia | Paul T. GilbertYou neednt think that youre the cock-of-the-walk because you took the barkers away from him.
Within the Capes | Howard Pyle
British Dictionary definitions for cock of the walk
informal a person who asserts himself in a strutting pompous way
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 cock of the walk
A conceited, bossy person, as in Since his last promotion he's been acting like the cock of the walk—he's unbearable. This expression alludes to the rooster's proud strut about the barnyard, asserting his rule over hens and chicks. [Mid-1800s]
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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