billycock

[ bil-ee-kok ]

noun

, Chiefly British Informal.

1. a derby or a hat resembling it.

billycock

/ ˈbɪlɪkɒk /

noun

1. rare.
   any of several round-crowned brimmed hats of felt, such as the bowler

Word History and Origins

Origin of billycock¹

1715–25; alteration of bullycocked ( hat ); bully ¹, cock ²( def ), -ed ²( def )

Word History and Origins

Origin of billycock¹

C19: named after William Coke , Englishman for whom it was first made

Example Sentences

His square-crowned billycock hat, buttoned-up pepper-and-salt grey suit, and crossover bird's-eye tie with the pebble pin in it, were at odds with the slumbrous lanes and the scabious-blue mountains.

From Project Gutenberg

His excuse was that the medium being so small, he could not obtain sufficient power from her to make himself appear as a big man, and he didn't like to come, "looking like a girl in a billycock hat."

From Project Gutenberg

I saw young 'Arry with his billycock on, Checked trousers on his thighs, with knob stick armed, Climb from the ground like fat pig up a pole, And flop with such sore toil into his saddle As though a bran-bag dropped down from the clouds, To turn and wind a slow "Jerusalem," And shock the world with clumsy assmanship.

From Project Gutenberg

The uniform and billycock hat, though, remained an eyesore and source of oppression.

From Project Gutenberg

The only objection they had to the big building in which they occupied the roomy top floor was that Morgan, liftman and caretaker, insisted on wearing a billycock with his uniform after six o’clock in the evening, with a result disastrous to the beauty of the universe.

From Project Gutenberg