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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Cock of the walk

Cock \Cock\ (k[o^]k), n. [AS. coc; of unknown origin, perh. in imitation of the cry of the cock. Cf. Chicken.]

  1. The male of birds, particularly of gallinaceous or domestic fowls.

  2. A vane in the shape of a cock; a weathercock.

    Drenched our steeples, drowned the cocks!
    --Shak.

  3. A chief man; a leader or master. [Humorous]

    Sir Andrew is the cock of the club, since he left us.
    --Addison.

  4. The crow of a cock, esp. the first crow in the morning; cockcrow. [Obs.]

    He begins at curfew, and walks till the first cock.
    --Shak.

  5. A faucet or valve.

    Note: Jonsons says, ``The handle probably had a cock on the top; things that were contrived to turn seem anciently to have had that form, whatever was the reason.'' Skinner says, because it used to be constructed in forma crit[ae] galli, i.e., in the form of a cock's comb.

  6. The style of gnomon of a dial.
    --Chambers.

  7. The indicator of a balance.
    --Johnson.

  8. The bridge piece which affords a bearing for the pivot of a balance in a clock or watch.
    --Knight.

  9. a penis. [vulgar]

    Ball cock. See under Ball.

    Chaparral cock. See under Chaparral.

    Cock and bull story, an extravagant, boastful story; a canard.

    Cock of the plains (Zo["o]l.) See Sage cock.

    Cock of the rock (Zo["o]l.), a South American bird ( Rupicola aurantia) having a beautiful crest.

    Cock of the walk, a chief or master; the hero of the hour; one who has overcrowed, or got the better of, rivals or competitors.

    Cock of the woods. See Capercailzie.

Wiktionary
cock of the walk

n. (context idiomatic English) A proud or conceited person.

Usage examples of "cock of the walk".

If mine had seemed the best to me when our dinner was over, why, I was the cock of the walk&mdash.

Thick gold rings, some set with jewels, gleamed on his nimble fingers as he toyed with his dagger, his warning stare removing all doubt that he was cock of the walk.

Short hooked his thumbs in his belt and rocked in the chair like a cut-rate cock of the walk.

A man who's afraid to face a male boss or a bully can still rant and roar about his own house like the cock of the walk, and neither his wife nor his kids is half as likely to back him down as the world all around outside is.

He quite obviously considered himself cock of the walk and many of the Norwegian officers who were his senior in rank openly deferred to him.