Cock-a-hoop Audio Pronunciation\kah-kuh-HOOP\
DEFINITION
adjective
1 : triumphantly
boastful : exulting
2 : awry
EXAMPLES
The
driver's pit crew was cock-a-hoop as they watched her cross the finish line to
victory lane.
"The cock-a-hoop pride and sensitivity
of these former colonials were mere annoyances, almost impossible to take
seriously for a nation with a world war to win." — From Patricia Brady's
2011 book A Being So Gentle: The Frontier Love Story of Rachel and Andrew
Jackson
DID YOU KNOW?
The
adjective "cock-a-hoop" comes from a curious 16th- and 17th-century
expression, "to set cock a hoop," which meant "to be
festive" or "to drink or celebrate without restraint."
Etymologists, however, are not entirely certain about the origin of that old
expression. Although no one knows if it originally had any connection with the
"rooster" sense of "cock," many people thought it did—and
this perceived association influenced the current meaning of
"cock-a-hoop." The cock is known for its triumphant crow, and
"cock-a-hoop" is now used to refer to something triumphantly
boastful.
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