Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

turncock

British  
/ ˈtɜːnˌkɒk /

noun

  1. (formerly) an official employed to turn on the water for the mains supply

"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

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:

They watched him oil a turncock sunk in the ground between two furze-bushes.

From Stalky & Co. by Rudyard Kipling

Oh, very well," he answered promptly; "then we're the 'Backward Sons of Gentlemen'—that's down in the prospectus—and we're fetching water for Mother Stimcoe, because the turncock cut off the company's water this morning!

From Poison Island by Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch

It usually runs into a cistern, until the water-rates get into arrear, when the supply ceases through the intervention of a turncock.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 1, November 13, 1841 by Various

You will pardon the momentary laceration of a wounded spirit, made sensitive by a recent collision with a minion of the law,—in short, with a ribald turncock attached to the waterworks.

From Practice Book by Leland Powers

The little man was left in the centre of the room, his deep eyes smouldering upon the backs of the retreating members, his thumb and finger raised to the turncock of the metre.

From The Island Pharisees by John Galsworthy

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

Get a word

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Look it up. Learn it forever.

Remember new words for good with VocabTrainer. Expand your vocabulary effortlessly with personalized learning tools that adapt to your goals.

Take me to Vocabulary.com