α. 1600s cocke-stride, 1600s– cockstride.
β. 1600s cocks-stride, 1700s– cock's stride.
cockstriden.
/ˈkɒkstrʌɪd/, U.S. /ˈkɑkˌstraɪd/, Scottish English /ˈkɔkstrʌid/, Irish English /ˈkɑkstraɪd/ In later use chiefly English regional (northern), Scottish, and Irish English.
A very short distance or period of time, likened to the length of cockerel or rooster's stride.Often in proverbial sayings relating to the gradual lengthening of the days around New Year, or to the observed movement of the sun through the sky.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > measurement > measurement of length > [noun] > units of length or distance > pace or step > short pace
cockstride1626
1626 N. Breton Fantasticks sig. B4 It is now February, & the Sun is gotten vp a Cocke-stride of his climbing.
1678 J. Ray Coll. Eng. Prov. (ed. 2) 52 At twelf-day the days are lengthened a Cock-stride.
1822 J. Hogg Three Perils of Man II. 236 Afore yon sun were twa cockstrides down the west.
1892 Northern Echo 30 Mar. 4/4 We, as consumers,..are only a cockstride from the pit mouth.
1910 Times 19 Feb. 4/1 There may be beginners who hail the New Year's hard-earned minutes of daylight—the proverbial ‘cock's stride’ by which the twilight draws out after Christmas.
2004 K. Long Bad Mother's Handbk. (2005) x. 269 We're nearly at the bridge. ‘Come on,’ says Jimmy, ‘only a cock-stride now.’
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2019; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1626