rooster
Americannoun
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roosters
plural
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the male of domestic fowl and certain game birds; cock.
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a representation of this bird, used as an emblem of the Democratic Party from 1842 to 1874.
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Informal. a cocky person.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of rooster
Explanation
A rooster is a male chicken. If your cute baby chick grows up to crow loudly first thing every morning, he's probably a rooster. The word rooster is an American invention, inspired by the rooster's habit of roosting, or standing up on a perch while sleeping or while on the lookout for danger. In the UK, a rooster is more likely to be called a cock or cockerel. In a flock of birds, the rooster's job is to defend the chickens and their nests from predators and other roosters.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Wacky animal sidekicks once felt vibrant in a holistic world of artifice; here, a goggle-eyed rooster just looks diseased.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
The first thing I noticed was the sound of the place: the chatter of chickadees, the crows of a rooster and the honks of geese.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
The colorful space, dominated by a giant rooster mural and pulsing with salsa, draws inspiration from across Latin America and the Caribbean.
From Salon ● Sep. 29, 2025
But the woman also had a rooster on her thumb, showing "an intriguing style with a certain uniqueness," says Dr Caspari.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2025
Someone on another floor was imitating a rooster.
From "Lyddie" by Katherine Paterson
Nearby were soft-toy footballers resembling Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, fluffy roosters in France polos and teddy bears in Spain kits.
From Barron's ● Jun. 10, 2026
The gate is adorned with a sculpted round medallion of Oseguera’s trademark, two roosters.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 19, 2026
“We were listening to the roosters crowing at 5 in the morning here,” said Marks during a video call from Hawaii on Wednesday after the 76th Emmy Award nominations were announced.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2024
Schilperoort said the property owners were present at the time and that deputies cleaned up the dead roosters.
From Seattle Times ● May 24, 2024
It was green and red with a pattern of jongwe, or roosters.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
