rooster
UK /ˈɹuːstə/ · US /ˈɹustɚ/ noun, proper noun
Forms roosters roo
- noun (Canada, US, Kent, Australia, New Zealand) A male domestic chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) or other gallinaceous bird.
- noun A bird or bat which roosts or is roosting.
- noun (figuratively, obsolete slang) An informer.
- noun (figuratively, obsolete slang) A violent or disorderly person.
- noun (figuratively) A powerful, prideful, or pompous person.
- noun (figuratively, originally US slang, now chiefly New Zealand) A man.
- noun (regional US, historical) A wild violet, when used in a children's game based on cockfighting.
- noun (obsolete, US, slang, uncountable) Legislation solely devised to benefit the legislators proposing it.
- proper noun The tenth of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar.
Synonyms
cock informant brawler important person cock of the walk cock of the roost man
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)).
Webster’s 1913
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “rooster”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details