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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

That operation, as every one knows, produces two sounds or clicks, one when the hammer reaches the half cock, and the other when it comes to the full cock.

From The Oaths, Signs, Ceremonies and Objects of the Ku-Klux-Klan. A Full Expose. By A Late Member by Anonymous

Can't you hear a gang of old sailors romancing and dreaming about the things they'd like to do, without going off at half cock this way!

From The Pirate Shark by Fred J. Arting

Both had the same design, that of a knight in full armor on a prancing horse, and a long lance at half cock, as it were.

From Frontier Boys in Frisco by Wyn Roosevelt

The breech-block is side-hinged, and it is opened and the shell is thrown out by simply bringing the gun to half cock.

From Scientific American, Volume 22, No. 1, January 1, 1870 A Weekly Journal of Practical Information, Art, Science, Mechanics, Chemistry, and Manufactures. by Various

“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

Your worst fault, and, in business, your worst handicap, is a tendency to go off at half-cock.

From A Captain in the Ranks A Romance of Affairs by George Cary Eggleston

Smooth-bored, clean-run, from her fiddle head with its dainty ear half-cock, Hard-bit, pur sang, from her overhang to the heel of her off hind sock.

From From a Cornish Window A New Edition by Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch

But you are always at your best when you go off at half-cock like that!

From Ancestors A Novel by Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton