Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A serpent hatched from a cock's egg and having the power to kill by its glance.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A fabulous monster reputed to be hatched by a serpent from a cock's egg, represented as possessing characters belonging to both animals, and supposed to have the power of killing by the glance of its eye; a basilisk.
- noun A loose woman.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A fabulous serpent whose breath and look were said to be fatal. See
Basilisk . - noun (Her.) A representation of this serpent. It has the head, wings, and legs of a bird, and tail of a serpent.
- noun (Script.) A venomous serpent which which cannot now be identified.
- noun Any venomous or deadly thing.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A legendary creature about the size and shape of a
dragon orwyvern , but in appearance resembling a giantrooster , with some lizard-like characteristics.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun monster hatched by a reptile from a cock's egg; able to kill with a glance
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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A cockatrice is a Dragon with a Crown on his head, and hatched by a Viper on a Cock's Egg. The Viper was the Symbol of
Annotations 2007
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A cockatrice is a serpent, often identified with the basilisk; it is said to be able to kill by its glance alone and to be hatched from a cock's egg.
Annotations 2007
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Also known as a cockatrice, the basilisk is generally a variety of cock with a serpent’s tail and eight legs, and sometimes bearing scales instead of feathers.
Eaters Of The Dead Crichton, Michael, 1942- 1976
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"cockatrice" (literally, "viper's offspring," as Philistia would regard him), namely, Hezekiah awaits you (2Ki 18: 8).
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Discussing the "cockatrice" of Scripture, he tells us: "He drieth and burneth leaves with his touch, and he is of so great venom and perilous that he slayeth and wasteth him that nigheth him without tarrying; and yet the weasel overcometh him, for the biting of the weasel is death to the cockatrice.
A History of the warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom 1896
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Like a basilisk or cockatrice it is, speaking of magical, wonderful animals.
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So in the dragon books I have faeries and giants and basilisks which kill by a glance but bear no physical resemblance to the mythological cockatrice.
Archive 2010-04-01 Freedomstar 2010
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So in the dragon books I have faeries and giants and basilisks which kill by a glance but bear no physical resemblance to the mythological cockatrice.
Graham Edwards Interview Freedomstar 2010
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Lyrics like “The stony hiss of cockatrice has cast us into serfdom” are sung over looped violin, chirpy synths and a 50-piece string orchestra from Prague.
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Out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent.
yarb commented on the word cockatrice
Citation on flyblow.
October 2, 2008
sionnach commented on the word cockatrice
Not to be confused with a cockenthrice.
November 18, 2008