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cosh

1
[kosh]Chiefly British Slang.
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noun
  1. a blackjack; bludgeon.
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verb (used with object)
  1. to hit on the head with a cosh.
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Origin of cosh

1
1865–70; perhaps < Romany kosh, koshter stick

cosh

2
[kosh]
noun Mathematics.
  1. hyperbolic cosine.
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Origin of cosh

2
First recorded in 1870–75; cos(ine) + h(yperbolic)
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for cosh

business, staff, truncheon, nightstick, bash, clobber, pummel, whack, bludgeon, sap, cudgel, works, baton, mace, blackjack, hammer, quarterstaff, hickory, mallet, shillelagh

Examples from the Web for cosh

Historical Examples of cosh

  • In his left pocket there was a cosh and in his right a revolver.

    Tartarin de Tarascon

    Alphonse Daudet

  • Copeland, Cosh, and M'Nair, along with their respective wives.

  • Cosh, a neddy, a life-preserver; any short, loaded bludgeon.

    The Slang Dictionary

    John Camden Hotten

  • Coshery, kosh′ėr-i, n. the ancient right of an Irish chief to quarter himself and his retainers on his tenantry—also Cosh′ering.

  • The cosh was a foot length of iron rod, with a knob at one end, and a hook (or a ring) at the other.

    A Child of the Jago

    Arthur Morrison

British Dictionary definitions for cosh

cosh

1
noun
  1. a blunt weapon, often made of hard rubber; bludgeon
  2. an attack with such a weapon
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verb (tr)
  1. to hit with such a weapon, esp on the head
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Word Origin for cosh

C19: from Romany kosh, from koshter skewer, stick

cosh

2
noun
  1. hyperbolic cosine; a hyperbolic function, cosh z = 1/2 (e z + e –z), related to cosine by the expression cosh i z = cos z, where i = √–1
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Word Origin for cosh

C19: from cos (ine) + h (yperbolic)
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

Word Origin and History for cosh

n.

"stout stick," 1869, of unknown origin.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
cosh in Science

cosh

  1. Abbreviation of hyperbolic cosine
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.