Rooster

/ˈɹuːstə/
B1

Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

Listen pronunciation

nounA male domestic chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) or other gallinaceous bird.

nounA bird or bat which roosts or is roosting.

It is the hen that makes the rooster crow.
Yesterday I went to Denizli and I saw a rooster near the coop.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
Every morning at sunrise, the loud ____ crows and wakes up the farm.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ crowed loudly at dawn, waking everyone on the farm.

From roost + -er. In the regions where it is used, displaced cock through taboo avoidance. Compare typologically Russian насе́дка (nasédka) (akin to наси́живать (nasíživatʹ), also akin to насе́ст (nasést)).

"Their other dish […] contain'd a number of roast fowls—half a dozen, we suppose, & all roosters at this season no doubt." — 1772 March 14, A.G. Winslow, Diary:
"The produce of two hens and a cock, or rooster, as the Yankees term that bird." — 1836, Catharine Parr Traill, The Backwoods of Canada, page 308:
"Chalk a circle for a rooster." — 1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 16]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC, part III [Nostos], page 616:
"The more leisured flight of the roosters [sc. starlings] was in contrast to the steady procession of the migrants." — 1949, British Birds, 42, p. 323:
"Ground roosters like Northern Harriers may be subject to predation by Great-horned Owls […] but still larger perchers like herons and Ospreys use snags or posts in conspicuous places but are large enough to escape aerial predators." — 1999, Milton W. Weller, Wetland Birds: Habitat Resources and Conservation Implications:
CEFR Practice Quiz
Every morning at sunrise, the loud ____ crows and wakes up the farm.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ____ crowed loudly at dawn, waking everyone on the farm.

Expand Your Vocabulary with LexUp

Master English words using smart flashcards, play exciting word rounds, and compete with other learners worldwide.

Browse CEFR Words Alphabetically