cog

¹

[kog, kawg]

noun

1. a gear tooth, formerly especially one of hardwood or metal, fitted into a slot in a gearwheel of less durable material.

2. a cogwheel.

3. a person who plays a minor part in a large organization, activity, etc..

   He's just a small cog in the financial department.

verb (used without object)

cogged, cogging 

1. (of an electric motor) to move jerkily.

verb (used with object)

cogged, cogging 

1. to roll or hammer (an ingot) into a bloom or slab.

cog

²

[kog, kawg]

verb (used with object)

cogged, cogging 

1. to manipulate or load (dice) unfairly.

verb (used without object)

cogged, cogging 

1. to cheat, especially at dice.

cog

³

[kog, kawg]

noun

1. Carpentry.,  (in a cogged joint) the tongue in one timber, fitting into a corresponding slot in another.

2. Mining.,  a cluster of timber supports for a roof.

verb (used with or without object)

cogged, cogging 

1. Carpentry.,  to join with a cog.

cog.

⁴

abbreviation

1. cognate.

cog

¹

/ kɒɡ /

noun

1. any of the teeth or projections on the rim of a gearwheel or sprocket

2. a gearwheel, esp a small one

3. a person or thing playing a small part in a large organization or process

verb

1. (tr) metallurgy to roll (cast-steel ingots) to convert them into blooms

cog

²

/ kɒɡ /

noun

1. a tenon that projects from the end of a timber beam for fitting into a mortise

verb

1. (tr) to join (pieces of wood) with cogs

cog

³

/ kɒɡ /

verb

1. slang,  to cheat (in a game, esp dice), as by loading a dice

Word History and Origins

Origin of cog¹

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English cogge, probably from a North Germanic language; compare Swedish kugge, Norwegian kugg “cog”; akin to German Kugel “bullet, ball, shot,” Old English cycgel ( cudgel ( def. ) )

Origin of cog²

First recorded in 1525–35; origin uncertain

Origin of cog³

1855–60; special use of cog ¹; replacing cock in same sense, special use of cock ¹ (in sense of projection); coak

Word History and Origins

Origin of cog¹

C13: of Scandinavian origin; compare Danish kogge, Swedish kugge, Norwegian kug

Origin of cog²

C19: of uncertain origin

Origin of cog³

C16: originally a dice-playing term, of unknown origin

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. slip a cog, to make a blunder; err.

   One of the clerks must have slipped a cog.

More idioms and phrases containing cog

• slip a cog

Example Sentences

Still, I missed the truly misanthropic lead of King’s novella, a sour bigot radicalized to see himself not just as a cog in a machine but as a spoke in a revolution.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

But he figures to be a key cog in their bullpen again next season, in what will be his last before reaching free agency.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Until recently, the Blue Jays appeared to be merely one small cog in Rogers’ vast portfolio of holdings.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The underground wealth beneath the Arctic city of Kiruna fuels Sweden’s economy and is a central cog in one of Europe’s core defense industries.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Ron’s career casts him as a cog in the grand machinery of consumerism.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• prong