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• half cock
  half cock

  noun

  the position of the hammer of a firearm when held halfway to the fully retracted position by a mechanism that prevents it from being released and firing the gun when the trigger is pulled.
• half-cock
  half-cock

  verb (used with object)

  to set the hammer of (a firearm) at half cock.

half cock

¹ American  

[haf kok] / ˈhæf ˈkɒk /

noun

1. the position of the hammer of a firearm when held halfway to the fully retracted position by a mechanism that prevents it from being released and firing the gun when the trigger is pulled.

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half-cock ² American  

[haf-kok, hahf-] / ˈhæfˈkɒk, ˈhɑf- /

verb (used with object)

1. to set the hammer of (a firearm) at half cock.

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half-cock British  

noun

1. on a single-action firearm, a halfway position in which the hammer can be set for safety; in this position the trigger is cocked by the hammer which cannot reach the primer to fire the weapon

2. 1. to fail as a result of inadequate preparation or premature starting

   2. to act or function prematurely

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Etymology

Origin of half cock¹

First recorded in 1695–1705

Origin of half-cock²

First recorded in 1825–35

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

half cock half-cock

Then it was not Dickinson's, but Jackson's, pistol that stopped at , half cock.

From Time Magazine Archive

Both creatures are represented accurately in the mediæval traditional form, the cockatrice half dragon, half cock; the deaf adder laying one ear against the ground and stopping the other with her tail.

From Our Fathers Have Told Us Part I. The Bible of Amiens by John Ruskin

"She has been now fooling me for six years;" and as he concluded this sentence, Mr Vanslyperken and Snarleyyow had reached the taffrail, and the dog raised his tail to the half cock.

From Snarleyyow by Frederick Marryat

“She has been now fooling me for six years;” and as he concluded this sentence, Mr Vanslyperken and Snarleyyow had reached the taffrail, and the dog raised his tail to the half cock.

From Snarley-yow or The Dog Fiend by Frederick Marryat

Across him was lying Anerley's fowling-piece, one barrel discharged, the other at half cock.

From The Green Flag by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

“The modification appears to be related to the notches on the internal portion of the hammer for full-cock, half-cock and quarter cock positions,” the prosecutors wrote in court papers.

From New York Times ● May 17, 2023

"It is absolutely essential that we stay focused on how in this transitional period, nobody loses their head, nobody goes off half-cock, people don't start moving on scatter-brained or revengeful premises," Kerry added.

From Reuters ● Jun. 27, 2016

He was a short, puffy little man, with a bullet head at half-cock in the air, producing a general effect of nostrils on you.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 14, No. 81, July, 1864 by Various

And, watching my opportunity, it was not long before I contrived to set my rifle to half-cock and replace the cap on the nipple without attracting the king’s attention.

From Through Veld and Forest An African Story by Archibald Webb

He was forever falling into the water, constantly cutting his fingers with his knife, and frequently breaking the trigger of his fowling-piece in his attempts to discharge it at half-cock.

From Frontier Boys in the South Seas by Wyn Roosevelt