cockshut

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English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Middle English cokshote, equivalent to cock +‎ shut.

Noun

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cockshut (countable and uncountable, plural cockshuts)

  1. (countable, obsolete) A kind of net for catching woodcock.
  2. (obsolete) Twilight, when poultry would be shut in for the night.
    • 1593, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Richard the Third', act 5, scene 3:
      Sir Richard Ratcliff: Thomas the Earl of Surrey, and himself,
      Much about cock-shut time, from troop to troop
      Went through the army, cheering up the soldiers.
    • 1603, Ben Jonson, The Satyr; republished in The Works of Ben Jonson, volume 6, London: For G. and W. Nicol, et al, 1816, page 473:
      1 Fai.: Mistress, this is only spite:
      For you would not yesternight
      Kiss him in the cock-shut light.

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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