any of several soft-rayed food fishes of the family Gadidae, especially Gadus morhua, of North Atlantic waters.
a closely related fish, Gadus macrocephalus, of the North Pacific Ocean.
any of several unrelated fishes, as rockfishes of the genus Sebastes.
any of the gadoid food fishes of the genus Gadus, esp G. morhua (or G. callarias ), which occurs in the North Atlantic and has a long body with three rounded dorsal fins: family Gadidae . They are also a source of cod-liver oil
any other fish of the family Gadidae See gadid
any of various unrelated Australian fish, such as the Murray cod
cash on delivery
(in the US) collect on delivery
dialect a pod or husk
an obsolete word for scrotum
obsolete a bag or envelope
slang to make fun of; tease
slang to play a trick on; fool
slang a hoax or trick
slang a fraud; hoaxer
he's an old cod
What does C. O. D. mean? C. O. D. is an abbreviation for cash on delivery, referring to an arrangement in which payment for a purchase is made directly by the purchaser to the person who delivers the item. C. O. D. can also stand for collect on delivery, meaning the same thing. That’s because C. O. D. doesn’t necessarily always mean that actual cash (paper money) is required (though it often used to mean this). Sometimes, a check, money order, or credit card payment will be accepted as C. O. D. C. O. D. can be used as a noun, as in Sorry, we don’t accept C. O. D.s. It can also be used as an adverb, as in We’re shipping it C. O. D.; as an adjective, as in Our C. O. D. orders are behind schedule; and in other variations. Although the term can be spelled without periods, they’re usually included to make it clear that the term is an abbreviation. Example: Most of our shipments are done C. O. D., and we have a high percentage of successful payments.
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English; origin uncertain
First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English codd; akin to Old Norse koddi “pillow”
An Americanism dating back to 1855–60
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
At a Michelin-starred restaurant in Senigallia on the Adriatic, our host is served a version of osso buco made with cod tripe.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 7, 2026
Many of them left comments such as "haven't a clue what type of fish it was" and "not cod or haddock, some cheap white fish".
From BBC • Apr. 30, 2026
It is significantly cheaper, at about £3.40 per kilogram wholesale, than traditional species such as cod and haddock which typically go for £15 per kilogram.
From BBC • Apr. 30, 2026
Ads introducing the product implied that consumers would have to eat boiled cod to find a comparable protein-to-calorie ratio, and the company reinforced the point by eventually beginning to sell frozen cod filets.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 24, 2026
Paddy says, I don’t want to read nothing, it’s all a cod, all them stories.
From "Angela's Ashes: A Memoir" by Frank McCourt
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.
