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cock n Cp OED sb1 21 b 'male'; DC cock and hen (Nfld:
1842); phr prob an extension of OED hen sb 6 (1603-).
1 Phr cock and hen: soft-shell clam, used as bait
(Mya arenaria); fresh-water clam; GLAM.
1842 JUKES ii, 190
The animals of this species ... are called 'cocks and hens' by the fishermen, who
sometimes use them as bait for the cod. 1895 J A Folklore viii, 34 Freshwater
clams, cocks and hens. 1977 RUSSELL 173 We dug up clams and cocks and hens till
even these were gone. But still no squids, so in despair we give it up for good. 1979
TIZZARD 290 I would be sent in the bottom when the water was low to dig 'cocks and hens,'
a small clam, or to pick mussels along the shoreline.
2
Comb cock caplin: male 'caplin.'
1861 NOBLE 157 The males
and females of these delicate fishes, (capelin) are called here, very comically, cocks
and hens. 1966 SCAMMELL 45 My brother hooked a cock-caplin out of one ear and a small
thole-pin out of the other.
cock indian: male 'Beothuk'
indian.
1792 PULLING MS Aug The Indian men are as often
called Cock Indians by those gentlemen salmon catchers and furriers as they are
called anything else.
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