cockerel

[ kok-er-uhl, kok-ruhl ]
See synonyms for cockerel on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a young domestic cock.

Origin of cockerel

1
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English cokerelle, kokerelle; see origin at cock1, -rel

Words Nearby cockerel

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use cockerel in a sentence

  • That matter of the black cockerel—trifling as it might seem—would have to be cleared up.

    A Thin Ghost and Others | M. R. (Montague Rhodes) James
  • So Sir Dagonet always went armed; though he bore upon his shield the device of a cockerel's head as a symbol of his calling.

  • After that poultry fanciers call the young male a cockerel and the young female a pullet.

    Our Domestic Birds | John H. Robinson
  • The word "pullet" is also used by others, but the popular names for a cockerel are crower and young rooster.

    Our Domestic Birds | John H. Robinson
  • After the sex can be distinguished, the terms cockerel and pullet are applied to turkeys in the same way as to fowls.

    Our Domestic Birds | John H. Robinson

British Dictionary definitions for cockerel

cockerel

/ (ˈkɒkərəl, ˈkɒkrəl) /


noun
  1. a young domestic cock, usually less than a year old

Origin of cockerel

1
C15: diminutive of cock 1

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