noun
1.
(not in technical use) a gear tooth, formerly especially one of hardwood or metal, fitted into a slot in a gearwheel of less durable material.
2.
a cogwheel.
3.
a person who plays a minor part in a large organization, activity, etc.: He's just a small cog in the financial department.
verb (used without object)
4.
(of an electric motor) to move jerkily.
verb (used with object)
5.
to roll or hammer (an ingot) into a bloom or slab.
00:10
Cog
is one of our favorite verbs.
So is bowdlerise. Does it mean:
| to run away hurriedly; flee. |
| to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable. |
6.
slip a cog, to make a blunder; err: One of the clerks must have slipped a cog.
Origin:
1200–50; Middle English cogge, probably < Scandinavian; compare Swedish, Norwegian kugg cog
1200–50; Middle English cogge, probably < Scandinavian; compare Swedish, Norwegian kugg cog
Dictionary.com Unabridged
cog.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To cog
Collins
World English Dictionary
cog1 (kɒɡ) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | any of the teeth or projections on the rim of a gearwheel or sprocket |
| 2. | a gearwheel, esp a small one |
| 3. | a person or thing playing a small part in a large organization or process |
| —vb , cogs, cogging, cogged | |
| 4. | (tr) metallurgy to roll (cast-steel ingots) to convert them into blooms |
| [C13: of Scandinavian origin; compare Danish kogge, Swedish kugge, Norwegian kug] | |
| cog2 (kɒɡ) | |
| —vb , cogs, cogging, cogged | |
| slang to cheat (in a game, esp dice), as by loading a dice | |
| [C16: originally a dice-playing term, of unknown origin] | |
| cog3 (kɒɡ) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | a tenon that projects from the end of a timber beam for fitting into a mortise |
| —vb , cogs, cogging, cogged | |
| 2. | (tr) to join (pieces of wood) with cogs |
| [C19: of uncertain origin] | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
cog
"tooth on a wheel," mid-13c., probably a borrowing from a Scandinavian language (cf. Norwegian kugg "cog").
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Abbreviations & Acronyms
| cog. cognate |
The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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American Heritage
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Example sentences
In the new organization, the worker is no longer a cog in the machine but is an intelligent part of the overall process.
Because of public transportation, such as a cog railway, getting there is part of the fun.
When the gas giants of our system are together on the same side of their solar orbits, the sun moves away from the cog.
At last come a first few experiences in a theater as a tiny, nervous cog in the huge machinery of a ballet production.
Idioms & Phrases
Nearby Words
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