cockscomb
Americannoun
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the cap, resembling a cockscomb, formerly worn by professional fools.
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a garden plant, Celosia cristata, of the amaranth family, with flowers, commonly crimson or purple, in a broad spike somewhat resembling the comb of a cock.
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any of several other species of the genus Celosia.
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an elongate prickleback, Anoplarchus purpurescens, living among submerged rocks along the Pacific coast of North America.
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a gaslight burner having four or more jets.
noun
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the comb of a domestic cock
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an amaranthaceous garden or pot plant, Celosia cristata, with yellow, crimson, or purple feathery plumelike flowers in a broad spike resembling the comb of a cock
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any similar species of Celosia
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informal a conceited dandy
Etymology
Origin of cockscomb
Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; cock 1, 's 1, comb
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.
Only when I stooped to read the label for one velvety red blossom — it was a cockscomb, Celosia “Dracula” — did I notice the knee-high, cast-foam black vulture that was sitting watchfully beside it.
From New York Times • Jun. 15, 2023
Workers had set up tables outside the market so Garcia, his wife and others could wrap marigold and cockscomb bouquets in plastic.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 2, 2022
The golf ball-shaped cold-water fish is now on display, for a limited time, in the eelgrass area of the aquarium’s Puget Sound Fish alongside the sailfin sculpin and high cockscomb.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 28, 2022
The seats, some separated by a stack of wood, are still spaced out, and the tables display hand sanitizer along with a glass-enclosed candle and a cockscomb plant.
From Washington Post • Jun. 9, 2021
Getting tired, I took out my sketch-book and drew Lubuga, the pet, which amused the king immensely as he recognised her cockscomb.
From The Discovery of the Source of the Nile by Speke, John Hanning
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
