English Explanatory Dictionary

rooster

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A male domestic chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) or other gallinaceous bird.
  2. A bird or bat which roosts or is roosting.
  3. An informer.
  4. A violent or disorderly person.
  5. A powerful, prideful, or pompous person.
  6. A man.
  7. A wild violet, when used in a children's game based on cockfighting.
  8. Legislation solely devised to benefit the legislators proposing it.
name
  1. The tenth of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar.

Pronunciation

/ˈɹuːstə/ /ˈɹustəɹ/ roo͞'stər en-us-rooster.ogg en-au-rooster.ogg

Word forms

rooster roosters roo

Etymology

From roost + -er. In the regions where it is used, displaced cock through taboo avoidance. Compare typologically Russian насе́дка (nasédka) (akin to наси́живать (nasíživatʹ), also akin to насе́ст (nasést)).

Synonyms

cock informant brawler important person cock of the walk cock of the roost man

Related words

roost cock-a-doodle-doo

Derived words

cock rooster rooster booster roosterfish roosterhood roosterish roosterless roosterlike roosterly roosterness rooster sauce roostership roostertail rooster-tail
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