WEATHERCOCK

weathercock

(noun) weathervane with a vane in the form of a rooster

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

weathercock (plural weathercocks)

A weather vane, sometimes in the form of a cockerel.

(figuratively) One who veers with every change of current opinion; a fickle, inconstant person.

(Chiefly US and Canada) A wind pump style where the top of it behaves like a weather vane, moving with the wind direction, but also with a wheel attached to measure wind speed.

Verb

weathercock (third-person singular simple present weathercocks, present participle weathercocking, simple past and past participle weathercocked)

(intransitive, of a boat) To turn upwind because of the difference in water pressure on two sides.

(intransitive, of an airplane or missile) To veer into the direction of the oncoming (relative) wind.

(transitive) To act as a weathercock for.

Source: Wiktionary


Weath"er*cock`, n.

1. A vane, or weather vane; -- so called because originally often in the figure of a cock, turning on the top of a spire with the wind, and showing its direction. "As a wedercok that turneth his face with every wind." Chaucer. Noisy weathercocks rattled and sang of mutation. Longfellow.

2. Hence, any thing or person that turns easily and frequently; one who veers with every change of current opinion; a fickle, inconstant person.

Weath"er*cock`, v. t.

Definition: To supply with a weathercock; to serve as a weathercock for. Whose blazing wyvern weathercock the spire. Tennyson.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



RESET




Word of the Day

20 February 2025

INVASION

(noun) (pathology) the spread of pathogenic microorganisms or malignant cells to new sites in the body; “the tumor’s invasion of surrounding structures”


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Coffee Trivia

The word “coffee” entered the English language in 1582 via the Dutch “koffie,” borrowed from the Ottoman Turkish “kahve,” borrowed in turn from the Arabic “qahwah.” The Arabic word qahwah was traditionally held to refer to a type of wine.

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