Cock-feather

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Alternative form of cock feather.; Feather on an arrow.

    "Now place the Arrow on the string with the cock-feather uppermost, that is to say, the further side from the Bow, and the other two will slide over it, without being rumpled or discomposed, but place the cock-feather downwards, or next the Bow and the feather will go directly upon it, which not only injures the feather very much, but very soon takes it off;"

  2. 2
    Alternative form of cock feather.; Tailfeather of a cock.

    "Upon the head was placed the red cardinal's hat, adorned with a cock-feather, its cords and tassels iron chains hanging to the ground, while through the brim a pair of buck-horns extended their curved points."

Example

More examples

"Now place the Arrow on the string with the cock-feather uppermost, that is to say, the further side from the Bow, and the other two will slide over it, without being rumpled or discomposed, but place the cock-feather downwards, or next the Bow and the feather will go directly upon it, which not only injures the feather very much, but very soon takes it off;"

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.