Definitions

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

  • noun A valve that regulates the flow of fluid through a pipe; a faucet.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A faucet with a valve of some form, operated by a handle: used to open or close a pipe or passage for water, gas, etc. Such cocks are sometimes made self-closing, to prevent waste.

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

  • noun A bib, faucet, or short pipe, fitted with a turning stopper or plug for permitting or restraining the flow of a liquid or gas; a cock or valve for checking or regulating the flow of water, gas, etc., through or from a pipe, etc.
  • noun rare The turning plug, stopper, or spigot of a faucet.

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

  • noun A valve, tap or faucet which regulates the flow of liquid or gas through a pipe.
  • noun UK A main shutoff for water to a home from a municipal supply. Usually these valves exist in pairs, on outside the property boundary and one inside the property boundary.

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

  • noun faucet consisting of a rotating device for regulating flow of a liquid

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From stop + cock.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word stopcock.

Examples

  • When at last a stopcock is opened, and the compressed air is allowed to escape suddenly, the upward pressure from within is removed and the cylinder, by its own weight, forces itself deeply into the sand.

    Scientific News 1862

  • I'm a better listener than I am storyteller, but at home I have a stopcock to control who dips into my well.

    Going Home Today 2009

  • I'm a better listener than I am storyteller, but at home I have a stopcock to control who dips into my well.

    Archive 2009-11-01 2009

  • It was wired to the cap nut on the tank, and included a pressure gauge, stopcock, and the necessary threaded fittings for attachment.

    Golden State 2010

  • Tom tried to shut off the flow, but the stopcock would not turn.

    Golden State 2010

  • Then he adjusted the tank valve to a suitable pressure and opened the stopcock, to draw off a small amount of oxygen.

    Golden State 2010

  • My brother Edmond found the thing in an antique shop and turned the tusks into gas jets controlled by a stopcock under the creature's chin.

    Nutrition 2010

  • The funniest one was a buret that I ordered just glassware with a stopcock that the Fisher folks felt moved to put inside a large box with a skull-and-crossbones on it.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » How Not to Do E-Commerce 2009

  • The funniest one was a buret that I ordered just glassware with a stopcock that the Fisher folks felt moved to put inside a large box with a skull-and-crossbones on it.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » How Not to Do E-Commerce 2009

  • In one instance I tracked down a plaintive newt-song I kept hearing in the garden to the flooded depths of a pipe sunk in the lawn with a water stopcock at the bottom.

    Wildwood Roger Deakin 2009

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.