cock

Cock is a word with multiple, distinct meanings in English.

The most common non-sexual sense refers to a male chicken, also called a rooster. In farming and poultry contexts the term cock is widely used, though rooster is more common in American English. A young male chicken is typically called a cockerel. The female is a hen, and the young bird is a chick.

In informal and vulgar usage, cock is slang for the penis. This meaning is non-medical and considered crude or offensive in many contexts. It is most often encountered in colloquial speech, jokes, or explicit content, and is not appropriate for formal writing or professional settings.

As a verb, cock means to tilt, raise, or set something at an angle, or to prepare a mechanism for action. For example, one can cock a gun by pulling back its hammer, or cock an eyebrow in a questioning gesture. In other uses, a stopcock is a small valve controlling the flow of liquid or gas.

Other common uses include the aircraft cockpit, the cockpit of a ship, or terminology in various crafts and tools. The term also appears in idioms and phrases, such as cock-and-bull stories, which refer to untruths or exaggerated tales.

In summary, cock can denote a male chicken, a vulgar term for male genitalia, a verb related to tilting or preparing mechanisms, or parts of devices and vehicles, depending on the context.