α. 1500s 1600s– cocks spur, 1600s–1800s cock's spur.
β. 1600s– cockspur.
cockspurn.
/ˈkɒkspəː/, U.S. /ˈkɑkˌspər/ 1. The spur on the lower leg of a cockerel or rooster, which projects from the metatarsus and curves upwards. Also: an artificial spur which resembles this and is attached to the leg of a fighting cock, covering or replacing the bird's natural spur. Cf. spur n.1 5a.
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the world > animals > birds > order Galliformes (fowls) > family Phasianidae (pheasants, etc.) > hen or cock > [noun] > cock > parts of > spur
argotc1400
spur1548
cockspur?1561
?1561 T. Blundeville Newe Bk. Arte of Ryding ii. sig. G.viii On ye back side of whych hooke next to the horses lip, wold be made .ii litle sharp prickes, fashioned like cocks spurs.
1591 R. Percyvall Bibliotheca Hispanica Dict. at Espolon A cocks spur.
1663 J. Beale Let. 30 Nov. in R. Boyle Corr. (2001) II. 212 Gassendus in his Peyreskius tells us of Animal Inoculations, Hornes on a hares head, as I have seene cockspurs on Capons Combe.
1695 W. W. Novum Lumen Chirurg. Extinctum 59 One Mr. Edward Dunn, belonging to the Cock-pit, being wounded in the Hand by a Cock's Spur;..was forced to go to Mr. Johnson a Surgeon in Sheer-lane to take care of it.
1773 T. Hatton Ess. Gold Coin 33 In coming to the Secret of making Cockspurs I had Occasion to try various Compositions in Silver, Copper, Brass, Tin, &c.
1857 Illustr. London News 26 Dec. 640/1 The cock's spurs are as sharp as razors, and often ‘rooster’ falls dead at first start.
1893 Folklore 4 254 An iron cock's spur, with which a man had been murdered.
1943 Auk 60 432 Length, texture, and color of cock spurs are occasionally considered in estimating age of domestic fowls.
1991 D. McBain Art Roebuck comes to Born with Tooth 90 Before him stood the chippy red rooster, his spindly ankles hooked with razor-sharp cockspurs.
2009 U.S. Fed News (Nexis) 22 Mar. Customs and Border Protection officers at an air cargo facility in Memphis, Tenn., recently seized 84 metal blades or cock spurs used in illegal cock fighting.
2. Angling. Originally: the larva of a caddis fly. In later use (more fully cockspur worm): an earthworm, esp. the gilt tail, Dendrodrilus rubidus.
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the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > fishing-tackle > means of attracting fish > [noun] > bait > worms and grubs
angletwitcheOE
wormc1320
codwormc1450
redwormc1450
gentle1577
touchangle1581
bob1589
Jack1601
dug1608
codbait1620
caddis-worm1627
caddis1653
cockspur1653
lob-worm1653
marsh worm1653
gilt tail1656
cadew1668
cad1674
ash-grub1676
clap-bait1681
whitebait1681
earth-bob1696
jag-tail1736
buzz1760
treachet1787
angleworm1788
cow-turd-bob1798
palmer bob1814
slob1814
angledog1832
caddis-bait1833
sedge-worm1839
snake feeder1861
hellgrammite1866
easworm1872
cow-dung bob1880
snake doctora1883
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > division Endopterygota or Metabola (winged) > [noun] > order Trichoptera > family Phryganeidae or genus Phryganea > member of (caddis-fly) > larva of
codwormc1450
casewormc1565
codbait1620
caddis-worm1627
straw-bait1632
caddis1653
cockspur1653
piper1653
ruffcoat1653
straw-worm1653
cadew1668
cad1674
caddis-bait1833
1653 I. Walton Compl. Angler 231 There is also a lesser Cadis-worm, called a Cock-spur, being in fashion like the spur of a Cock, sharp at one end. View more context for this quotation
1677 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Oxford-shire 183 Other water Flys there are that come of such worms, called Cock-spurs, Rough-coats, Pipers.
1754 G. Smith Angler's Mag. 9 The Cock-spur..is a good Bait for all Float-fish.
1867 F. Francis Bk. Angling i. 15 A small fragment of red worm, or, as it is called on the Trent, the cockspur.
1895 Fishing Gaz. 24 Aug. 132/1 (advt.) Worms in moss,..Cockspurs, Reds, Marsh, and Pinkheads, 300 1s. 6d.
1906 J. W. Martin My Fishing Days 183 The hook was a No. 8, and the bait a couple of small cockspur worms.
1994 G. Baker & V. Barrett Earthworm Identifier 15 Dendrodrilus rubidus Common names: Bank worm, tree worm, cockspur, gilt tail, or gold-tailed brandling.
2017 P. Holden & G. Abbott RSPB Handbk. Garden Wildlife (ed. 2) 94 The Cockspur Worm..is 27-90 mm long and is widespread in Britain and Ireland.
3.
a. Any of various North American hawthorns of the genus Crataegus; esp. the cockspur hawthorn, C. crus-galli.Recorded earliest in cockspur tree.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > cultivated or ornamental trees and shrubs > [noun] > cockspur thorn
cockspur1681
cockspur thorn1724
cockspur hawthorn1731
1681 N. Grew Musæum Regalis Societatis ii. i. 182 A Tree, by some called The Cock-spur Tree. Perhaps more properly, Oxyacantha Americana, or the American hawthorne... Encompassed with great Thornes..about 1 ½ inch,..of the thickness of a large Cocks-Spur, and very strait.
1691 Hist. Learning 44 The Cock spurs, together with the Plum-leav'd Medlar of Virginia, without Thorns, are here distinctly plac'd.
1736 Compl. Family-piece ii. iii. 293 There are likewise many Trees and Shrubs now in Bloom, as the..Cockspur, Hawthorn.
1905 J. E. Rogers Tree Bk. 306 All year long the cockspur is a beautiful ornamental tree, and a competent and popular hedge plant.
1986 Guardian 6 Sept. 28 Another cockspur hybrid..is known in the winter by its crackled silvery grey bark.
2001 Trans. Kansas Acad. Sci. 104 16 Minor species [of invading trees] were shagbark hickory, Kentucky coffee.., and cockspur.
b. A tropical evergreen climbing shrub, Pisonia aculeata (family Nyctaginaceae), having recurved thorns, clusters of greenish-yellow flowers, and small oblong fruits covered with sticky glands.Recorded earliest in cockspur tree.Also called fingrigo.
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the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > thorn-tree or -bush > [noun] > non-British varieties
fingrigo1707
cockspura1726
thorny trefoil1760
narra1779
driedoring1824
wild Irishman1850
matagouric1857
tumata-kuru1859
Irishman1860
Jerusalem thorn1866
nabk1874
ilb1894
a1726 H. Barham Hortus Americanus (1794) 114 Its prickles are short and crooked, as the cockspur-tree is.
1756 P. Browne Civil & Nat. Hist. Jamaica ii. ii. 358 The Cock's-spur, or Fingrigo..is frequent in all the sugar islands.
1847 P. H. Gosse & R. Hill Birds of Jamaica 312 The seeds of the cockspur, (Pisonia aculeata); a burr so adhesive, that if one touch but a feather, it is immovable.
1919 Ann. Rep. Board Regents Smithsonian Inst. 1917 385 Stout, sharp, recurved thorns..arms its branches and..give it its common names ‘cockspur’, ‘pull-and-hold-back’, and ‘wait-a-bit vine’.
1991 Allertonia 6 67 Individual plants could be reached only with difficulty, due to an invasive growth of Eugenia axillaris.., Pisonia aculeata L. (cockspur), and Psidium guajava L. (guava).
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the world > plants > part of plant > part of tree or woody plant > wood > [noun] > dead wood
daddocka1624
cockspur1693
1693 J. Evelyn tr. J. de La Quintinie Compl. Gard'ner ii. iv. xxix. 38 A Skilful Curious Gard'ner ought never to suffer any dry or dead Argot, or Cock-spur upon any Trees, but cut them off close when ever he perceives them, unless it be upon certain Peach-Trees that appear somewhat inclin'd to Gum.
1710 G. London & H. Wise J. de la Quintinie's Compl. Gard'ner (1719) 136 The Cock spur, or dry dead parts of Branches that remain where a Branch was shorten'd above the next Eye or Shoot.
1756 G. Smith tr. Laboratory (new ed.) II. viii. 134 The dead wood, call'd cock-spur, is to be cut clean off in the following year in March.
5. A type of latch for a window casement consisting of a handle at right angles to a projecting pin which fits into a hole or slit in the window frame. In later use usually as a modifier, in cockspur handle, cockspur fastening, etc.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > building and constructing equipment > fastenings > [noun] > lock > latch-lock
clicket-lock1342
cockspur1703
Suffolk latch1940
1703 R. Neve City & Countrey Purchaser 100 Smiths in London ask'd me 6d. per Pound for Casements..if they made them with Turn-bouts (or Turn-buckles) or Cock-spurs, and Pull-backs at the Hind-side to pull them to with.
1819 A. Rees Cycl. VI. at Casement A casement with a cock-spur or pull-back at the hind-side, wherewith to draw it to.
1902 Architects' Mag. June 150/2 Wrought iron plain pattern cockspur fastening and wrought iron stay, pin and plate.
1993 Collins Compl. DIY Man. (new ed.) iv. 248/4 A cockspur handle, which secures the opening edge of the casement to the fixed frame, can be locked by means of an extending bolt that you screw to the frame below the handle.
6. More fully cockspur burner. A kind of gas burner with three holes which produces a flame resembling a cock's spur in shape. Now historical.
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the world > matter > light > artificial light > an artificial light > artificial light defined by light-source > [noun] > gaslight or lamp > parts of > gas-burner > specific
cockspur burner1808
sun-burner1852
sunlight1852
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > heating or making hot > that which or one who heats > [noun] > a device for heating or warming > fuelled by gas > gas-burner > types of
cockspur burner1808
rose burner1820
batwing burner1828
gas ring1837
rosette1856
Bude-burner1875
1808 W. Murdoch in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 98 126 The shape and general appearance of this tube, has procured it among the workmen, the name of the cockspur burner.
1808 W. Murdoch in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 98 126 The number of burners employed in all the buildings, amounts to 271 Argands, and 633 cockspurs.
1861 Artizan June 129/1 The original burners were probably not so large as at present, for instead of being batswings, consuming five feet an hour, they were probably cockspurs, or similar burners, consuming not more than three feet.
1921 Gas Manuf., Distribution & Use (Brit. Commerc. Gas Assoc.) i. 43/1 Starting with Murdoch's cockspur burners—which gave less than a candle power of light for each cubic foot of gas consumed per hour—the illuminating efficiency was increased gradually.
2012 L. Tomory Progressive Enlightenment iii. 104 There had been a tendency to favour the cockspur burners..over the Argands because they were simpler and cheaper to manufacture and much easier to keep clean.
7. The dark sclerotium of the ergot fungus Claviceps purpurea, thought to resemble the spur of a cock. Also (in full cockspur rye): rye exhibiting such sclerotia, which typically protrude from the ears of grain.
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the world > plants > disease or injury > [noun] > type of disease > fungal > associated with crop or food plants > various diseases > ergot
ergot1682
spur1763
cockspur1813
ergotism1853
1740 J. Sparrow tr. B. Saviard Observ. Surg. xvi. 45 This Distemper..happens to the peasants..who eat Bread made with a certain Corn that has a Seed in the Ear of it resembling a Cock's Spurs, (and it is a common saying of those People, that they have eat Cock Spurs).]
1813 J. Thomson Lect. Inflammation 541 Rainy and moist seasons in which the rye contained a large proportion of the cockspur.
1813 J. Thomson Lect. Inflammation 545 To collect a sufficient quantity of the cockspur rye.
1860 H. Coote in T. Holmes Syst. Surg. I. 177 The name applied to the diseased rye is ergot or cockspur rye.
1868 W. Aitken Sci. & Pract. Med. (ed. 5) I. iii. x. 824 The ergot or cockspur in rye is only apt to occur after very rainy or moist seasons.
1978 J. G. Horsfall & E. B. Cowling Plant Dis. II. ii. 18 When this purple cockspur is ground into flour along with the grain, the alkaloids are baked into the bread.
2009 Jrnl. Royal Coll. Physicians Edinb. 39 180/2 The next stage in the cycle is the development of the black sclerotium (the cockspur).
8. A wedge-shaped piece of clay used to separate glazed items being fired in a kiln.Now chiefly used with reference to marks left by such pieces of clay on the glaze of antique pieces of pottery.
ΚΠ
1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic 473 Pieces of clay of different sizes and shapes, called stilts, cockspurs, rings, pins, bats, &c. are put to keep them [sc. the glazed articles in the saggars] apart.
1880 C. A. Janvier Pract. Keramics 70 The pieces are supported and held apart by little fireclay instruments or props, which from their shape derive such names as pins or thimbles, watches, cock-spurs, triangles or stilts.
1920 Times 30 Sept. 13/5 It also displays..a ring of scars left by the breaking away of the ‘stilts’ or ‘cockspurs’ used for support in the kiln.
2003 Lat. Amer. Antiq. 14 13/5 European majolica usually has scars left by cockspurs or headpins used to separate plates or bowls from each other during kiln firing.
Compounds
cockspur grass n. any of several grasses having seed heads with spiny burrs or long awns; esp. Echinochloa crus-galli, native to tropical Asia and now widely naturalized and regarded as an invasive weed.Also called barnyard grass.
ΚΠ
1818 W. P. C. Barton Compendium Floræ Philadelphicæ I. 38 Cockspur-grass. Hedge-hog-grass.
1939 W. L. McAtee Wildfowl Food Plants ii. 30 The prickly character of the seed covering is referred to in the name cockspur grass.
2013 Aspects Appl. Biol. 118 312 In 2012, I have seen three bird seed areas swamped by an alien bristle grass (Setaria pumila) and two contaminated by cockspur grass (Echinochloa crus-galli).
cockspur hawthorn n. a hawthorn native to eastern North America, Crataegus crus-galli, which has long sharp thorns and is popular as an ornamental tree.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > cultivated or ornamental trees and shrubs > [noun] > cockspur thorn
cockspur1681
cockspur thorn1724
cockspur hawthorn1731
1731 P. Miller Gardeners Kalendar 76 Double-flowering Cherry, Cockspur Hawthorn, Dwarf Almond with single and double flowers.
1965 Addison (Illinois) Reg. 22 Apr. 1 Tomorrow, Arbor Day, the Garden Club of Addison will plant a cockspur hawthorn.
2004 Northern Woodlands Summer 29/2 Cockspur hawthorn (C. crus-galli)..has glossy leaves that turn orange and red in the fall.
cockspur thorn n. any of several North American hawthorns; esp. the cockspur hawthorn, Crataegus crus-galli.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > cultivated or ornamental trees and shrubs > [noun] > cockspur thorn
cockspur1681
cockspur thorn1724
cockspur hawthorn1731
1724 P. Miller Gardeners & Florists Dict. II. (Suppl.) Mepilus, or large Cock Spur thorn.
1846 G. B. Emerson Trees & Shrubs Mass. v. 433 Cockspur Thorn...A singularly neat shrub, often forming a beautiful, round-headed, small tree.
1913 H. H. Gibson Amer. Forest Trees 459 Cockspur (Cratægus crus-galli) may be taken as the type of more than twenty species of cockspur thorns growing in this country.
2011 Times 31 Dec. (Weekend section) 14/2 The cockspur thorn..carries the kind of thorns on to which one could impale dead moles pour encourager les autres.
cockspur tree n. any of several shrubs or small trees having long sharp thorns; spec. a North American hawthorn (see sense 3a) and the tropical shrub Pisonia aculeata (see sense 3b).
ΚΠ
1681 N. Grew Musæum Regalis Societatis ii. i. 182 A Tree, by some called The Cock-spur Tree. Perhaps more properly, Oxyacantha Americana, or the American hawthorne... Encompassed with great Thornes..about 1 ½ inch,..of the thickness of a large Cocks-Spur, and very strait.
a1726 H. Barham Hortus Americanus (1794) 114 Its prickles are short and crooked, as the cockspur-tree is.
1885 W. R. Kennedy Sport, Trav., & Adventure Newfoundland & W. Indies xvi. 371 Catalina is covered with a villanous plant, called the cockspur-tree, on account of the terrible spurs or thorns with which it is armed.
1917 Kingston (Jamaica) Gleaner 20 Oct. 14/3 Bryan Lindo came to his father's place and tied his donkey on a cockspur tree.
2016 J. Rensten Edible City 243 Then, turning a corner, a cockspur tree, which I'd been unconsciously looking for.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2019; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.?1561- heave at
- heave at maw
- heave at the capstan
- heave compensator
- heave down
- heave ho
- heave in sight
- heave in stays
- heave of the sea
- heave one's leg
- heave out
- heave short
- heave shoulder
- heave taut
- heave the gorge
- heave the maw
- heave the ship in stays
- heave thigh
- heave to
- heave up one's leg
- heave, throw the log
- heave-gate
- heave-ho
- heave-offering
- heave-shouldered