Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for cockup. Search instead for cock-up.

cockup

American  
[kok-uhp] / ˈkɒkˌʌp /

noun

  1. an upward turn or curl at the top of something.

  2. a cap or hat with the front turned up.

  3. British Slang. mess; botch.

cockup British  
/ ˈkɒkˌʌp /

noun

  1. slang something done badly

"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

verb

  1. (of an animal) to raise (its ears), esp in an alert manner

  2. slang to botch

"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 cockup

First recorded in 1685–95; cock 2 + up

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.

This is a technological cockup that HBO should have resolved years ago.

From The Verge • Mar. 14, 2022

The bureaucratic cockup, such a feature of murder mysteries, rarely appears on The Fall.

From Slate • Jan. 14, 2015

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.