the cap, resembling a cock'scomb, formerly worn by professional fools.
3.
a garden plant, Celosia cristata, of the amaranth family, with flowers, commonly crimson or purple, in a broad spike somewhat resembling the comb of a cock.
4.
any of several other species of the genus Celosia.
5.
an elongate prickleback, Anoplarchus purpurescens, living among submerged rocks along the Pacific coast of North America.
an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance.
a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
an amaranthaceous garden or pot plant, Celosia cristata, with yellow, crimson, or purple feathery plumelike flowers in a broad spike resembling the comb of a cock
c.1400, "comb or crest of a cock," from possessive of cock + comb. Meaning "cap worn by a professional fool" is from 1560s; hence "conceited fool" (1560s), a sense passing into the derivative coxcomb.