How to Use cock in a Sentence

cock

verb
  • And, of course, the pup’s head is cocked slightly to one side in response to the sound of your voice.
    Alex Orlando, Discover Magazine, 4 May 2023
  • One of the soldiers tackled an activist, punched him in the face, and cocked his firearm against the man’s back.
    Ruth Margalit, The New Yorker, 20 Feb. 2023
  • At one point earlier in the evening, Phil had cocked the trigger and aimed the weapon at John’s head.
    Jordan Runtagh, Peoplemag, 31 Oct. 2023
  • Walter jumps up, a tiny sliver of fluff in a red sweater, his ear cocked.
    Laura Trujillo, USA TODAY, 12 Feb. 2024
  • In the dressing room, fake Pat showed Galvan his Patrick walk — head cocked to one side then the other.
    Lisa Gutierrez, Kansas City Star, 5 Mar. 2024
  • When fully cocked the bow measures a scant 6.5 inches in width.
    Tony Hansen, Field & Stream, 19 July 2023
  • When fully cocked, the bow measures a scant 6.5 inches in width.
    Tony Hansen, Field & Stream, 3 Aug. 2023
  • Approaching a stand of trees, Mike keeps a hand on his rifle and his ear cocked.
    Alex Postman, Condé Nast Traveler, 1 Apr. 2024
  • The crow is on a branch of the yew tree, cocking its head and holding something on one side of its beak, as if to peer at it with the left eye.
    Anne Carson, The New Yorker, 22 Jan. 2024
  • When fully cocked, the bow measures 23 inches in width.
    Tony Hansen, Field & Stream, 3 Aug. 2023
  • Napoleon was known for wearing hats like this – often cocked to the side, according to BBC News.
    Caitlin O'Kane, CBS News, 20 Nov. 2023
  • When cocked, the bow is just 3.6 inches in width and only 7.6 inches uncocked.
    Tony Hansen, Field & Stream, 3 Aug. 2023
  • He’s captured with his wide-brimmed hat cocked at a rakish angle.
    Los Angeles Times, 18 Feb. 2023
  • The man grabbed her by the collar, shook her violently, cocked his weapon and left, Abul-Kbash says.
    Margherita Stancati, WSJ, 3 Dec. 2023
  • Less than four minutes passed from the time Engelbert cocked his gun, until Hale was dead.
    Keith Sharon, USA TODAY, 3 Apr. 2023
  • There’s a disquiet to the way the teenage Foster grins slightly, cocks one eyebrow, swallows hard.
    Jordan Kisner, The Atlantic, 18 Feb. 2024
  • Herman Sharabi and Shani pleaded with the militants not to take them, but one of the militants cocked his gun.
    Ruth Margalit, The New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2023
  • In a second, my rifle was at my shoulder and my eye was glaring through the tang peep sight, the hammer was cocked, and my finger was on the trigger.
    Outdoor Life, 23 Nov. 2023
  • My daughter, sitting cross-legged in the passenger seat of our idling van, cocked an ear in my direction.
    Amory Rowe Salem and Cheri Lucas Rowlands, Longreads, 9 Jan. 2024
  • The officers surprised Dail at the gas station to prevent him from fleeing again, the chief said, adding that Dail’s gun was cocked and loaded with four rounds.
    Dallas News, 21 Feb. 2023
  • Bland is shown putting on a ski mask, pulling out a pistol then cocking the weapon before entering the apartment where Marks, a father of five, was killed.
    John Lynch, Arkansas Online, 1 July 2023
  • The only way the testers could get it to fire was by striking the gun with a mallet while the hammer was down and resting on the cartridge, or by pulling the trigger while it was fully cocked.
    Morgan Lee The Associated Press, Arkansas Online, 18 Oct. 2023
  • The only way the testers could get it to fire was by striking the gun with a mallet while the hammer was down and resting on the cartridge, or by pulling the trigger while it was fully cocked.
    Kimi Robinson, USA TODAY, 26 Jan. 2024
  • But it shouldn’t be forgotten that there’s no one member of the Republican Party that cocked this up.
    Jason Linkins, The New Republic, 29 Apr. 2023
  • With one eye cocked on summer and the other looking forward to fall, Saturday — with a high of 81 degrees and a low of 58 — displayed aspects of each.
    Martin Weil, Washington Post, 17 Sep. 2023
  • Baldwin has acknowledged pointing the revolver at Hutchins, who was standing next to the camera, and cocking the hammer.
    Meg James, Los Angeles Times, 15 Mar. 2024
  • The study authors found that when prompted by a command from their owner, the gifted dogs cocked their heads 43 percent of the time, compared to just 2 percent of the typical dogs.
    Alex Orlando, Discover Magazine, 4 May 2023
  • Um, okay … the great Scottish actor Alan Cumming is the host, in a wardrobe made up entirely of fabulous cloaks and cocked fedoras.
    Jada Yuan, Washington Post, 23 Feb. 2024
  • Some are manual and have to be cocked by hand, some are automatic, and powered by batteries.
    Phil Bourjaily, Field & Stream, 24 May 2023
  • The new evidence presented has the potential to contradict the 2022 FBI forensics report on the gun, which had stated that the weapon could not be fired without pulling the trigger while the gun was cocked.
    Chloe Melas, CNN, 21 Apr. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cock.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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