cockcrow

American

[kok-kroh] / ˈkɒkˌkroʊ /

Also cock crowing

noun

the time at which a cock characteristically crows; daybreak; dawn.

He was in the kitchen each morning by cockcrow, making coffee and preparing breakfast.

cockcrow British

/ ˈkɒkˌkrəʊ /

noun

daybreak

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of cockcrow

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English; see origin at cock ¹, crow ²

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

At cockcrow one day last week, loudspeaker trucks began to cruise slowly through Saigon's streets.

From Time Magazine Archive

But once they hatched between hard covers, he knew how to sound the cockcrow of publicity.

From Time Magazine Archive

Premier Chautemps bundled his Cabinet into a motorcade which brought them before cockcrow to hand all their resignations to sad-eyed President Albert Lebrun.

From Time Magazine Archive

Since Gabriel's first cockcrow, seven Messiahs have done their miraculous best to redeem mankind.

From Time Magazine Archive

We would dance until cockcrow, then take off our sweaty shirts, enjoying the cool morning breeze as we walked back to our dorms.

From "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier" by Ishmael Beah

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023