petcock

or pet cock

[pet-kok]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR petcock ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a small valve or faucet, as for draining off excess or waste material from the cylinder of a steam engine or an internal-combustion engine.

Origin of petcock

1860–65; pet, perhaps < French pet (see petard) + cock¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for petcock

valve, spigot, hydrant, spout, egress, cock, nozzle, petcock, stopcock, bibcock

Examples from the Web for petcock

Historical Examples of petcock

One crawled in and settled down, and turned the petcock that inflated the cover.
Space Tug
Murray Leinster

British Dictionary definitions for petcock

petcock

noun

a small valve for checking the water level in a steam boiler or draining condensed steam from the cylinder of a steam engine

Word Origin for petcock

C19: from pet 1 or perhaps French pet, from péter to break wind + cock 1

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 petcock

also pet-cock, 1864, from cock (n.2); the signification of the first element is uncertain.