Cock-up

noun, slang

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A mistake. Commonwealth, mildly, slang, vulgar

    "If the zodiac was already developed in 2000 BC, it must have been kept as a cult secret or in some non-Babylonian country; this would be a 1500-year conspiracy theory. More likely is the individual cockup theory, viz. the naivety of Eudoxus himself."

  2. 2
    A superior letter; a lower-case letter placed above the baseline and made smaller than ordinary script; traditionally used in abbreviations. Ireland, UK, obsolete

    "The first word of every section or chapter is generally put in small capitals, after a small neat cock-up letter."

  3. 3
    A roll or twist of hair worn at the nape of the neck; a bun. Scotland, obsolete

    "Cockernonie, a gathering up of the hair of women, after a fashion similar to that of the modern "chignon," and sometimes called a "cock-up." Mr. Kirkton, of Edinburgh, preaching against "cock-ups"—of which chignons were the representatives a quarter of a century ago—said: "I have been all this year preaching against the vanity of women, yet I see my own daughter in the kirk even now with as high a 'cock-up' as any one of you all.""

Etymology

A deverbal from cock up.

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