Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To pamper.
  • noun A pet, especially a pet lamb.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A lamb brought up by hand, or without the aid of the dam; a pet lamb.
  • noun A pet of any kind.
  • To fondle; make a pet of; nurse fondly.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A lamb reared without the aid of the dam. Hence: A pet, in general.
  • transitive verb To treat as a pet; to fondle.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive to treat like a pet; to overly indulge
  • noun a pet; often specifically a pet lamb

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb treat with excessive indulgence

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Possibly from Anglo-Norman coscet, pet lamb, from Middle English cotsete, cottage-dweller, from Old English cotsǣta : cot, cottage + -sǣta, -sǣte, inhabitant; see sed- in Indo-European roots.]

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Examples

  • I hate playing scrabble when I can't use the words I know that aren't in "the dictionary" 'cosset' being a favorite and I get accused of making things up.

    A pitiful excuse for a post - A Dress A Day 2007

  • But to forestall the recognition of a Palestinian state he will happily cosset influential end-timers like Glenn Beck, who apparently has a touch of Jerusalem syndrome, a religiously-induced form of psychosis I first learned about from an episode of The X-Files, in which a grey-haired millionaire leaves a trail of mayhem and destruction in his wake following a trip to the holy city.

    Ariel Gonzalez: Infallible Israel Ariel Gonzalez 2011

  • Is it just me that finds it beyond bizarre that some people expect POC to cosset and protect them from discomfort in order for there to be appropriate conversations about how racism affects POC?

    oh, wow. free verse dinocorns. aichildlit 2009

  • In fact, a lady does not wish to be a skeleton of organisation to dominate a world, as well as afterwards cosset woman, would adore for him is a male of bad convergence.

    Archive 2009-12-01 admin 2009

  • It occurred to me, as I took my bag over, that it might be airline policy to comfort those who were going home for reasons such as mine with an upgrade, to cosset them through the night with quiet sympathy and an extra blanket or something.

    The Empty Family Colm Tóibín 2011

  • The effect is, however, both to cosset and alienate the individuals who matter most: the players.

    England's rugby players lost in RFU's business scrum | Observer editorial 2011

  • Fernando Lazlo Tables for Etel Recent work: Mr. Casas has been commissioned to design several hotels in Rio to cosset in style the crush of expected visitors to the Olympics.

    The New Icons of Design Julie V. Iovine 2012

  • But to forestall the recognition of a Palestinian state he will happily cosset influential end-timers like Glenn Beck, who apparently has a touch of Jerusalem syndrome, a religiously-induced form of psychosis I first learned about from an episode of The X-Files, in which a grey-haired millionaire leaves a trail of mayhem and destruction in his wake following a trip to the holy city.

    Ariel Gonzalez: Infallible Israel Ariel Gonzalez 2011

  • Meanwhile, we Europeans congratulated ourselves on forging a deal at Kyoto that would halt the oceans' rise and cosset the ice-deprived polar bears so memorably depicted in Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth."

    How Not to Run Environmental Policy Neil O'Brien 2011

  • It occurred to me, as I took my bag over, that it might be airline policy to comfort those who were going home for reasons such as mine with an upgrade, to cosset them through the night with quiet sympathy and an extra blanket or something.

    The Empty Family Colm Tóibín 2011

Comments

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  • Baaa!

    June 1, 2009

  • Poor lamb!

    June 1, 2009

  • The king and queen cosseted the young prince, giving him a prized miniature pony for his fifth birthday.

    The king and queen cosseted the young prince, giving him a prized miniature pony for his fifth birthday.

    October 29, 2017