cockscomb

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

From Middle English cokkes comb; equivalent to cock + -s- + comb.

)_ Clean your nailless middle finger first, your bully’s cold spunk is dripping from your cockscomb. — Ulysses, James Joyce
To a white-faced man she said, "I won't have you, Pale Death;" and to a red-cheeked man she said, "I won't have you, Cockscomb!" — Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry, Unknown
Here her sweet voice trailed off into a dainty snuffle: "'My dear lord, since out of the mouths of babes and sucklings proceedeth wisdom, hearken, I pray you, unto me, Oliver Wheatman, to wit of the Hanyards, and amend ye your ways lest I hit you over your cockscomb again, and very much harder than before. — The Yeoman Adventurer, George W. Gough

common cockscomb, Celosia cristata, Celosia argentea cristata

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