cockcrow

American

[kok-kroh] / ˈkɒkˌkroʊ /

Also cock crowing

noun

the time at which a cock characteristically crows; daybreak; dawn.

He was in the kitchen each morning by cockcrow, making coffee and preparing breakfast.

cockcrow British

/ ˈkɒkˌkrəʊ /

noun

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

Etymology

Origin of cockcrow

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English; cock ¹, crow 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.

So why did the Senate meet before the cockcrow last week?

From Fox News

The cockcrows faded, only to make us aware of our silence, the silence that asked, Who will be next to leave us?

From Literature

At midnight, at cockcrow, at morning, one certain day Lo the Bridegroom shall come and shall not delay; Watch thou and pray.

From Project Gutenberg

At cockcrow the vampire came out all blue and grinning; but, though she yelled horribly, she could not touch the man in the circle, who put the cross in the coffin.

From Project Gutenberg

He rose late, but this terrible discovery was still there, undispelled by cockcrow or the day.

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023