Weathercock
['weðəkɒk] or ['wɛðɚkɑk]
Definition
(n.) A vane, or weather vane; -- so called because originally often in the figure of a cock, turning on the top of a spire with the wind, and showing its direction.
(n.) Hence, any thing or person that turns easily and frequently; one who veers with every change of current opinion; a fickle, inconstant person.
(v. t.) To supply with a weathercock; to serve as a weathercock for.
Typed by Humphrey
Examples
- If ever the wind was in the east, said my guardian, pretending to look out of the window for a weathercock, I think it's there to-day! Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- Then came the hours of suspense, during which she vibrated from parlor to porch, while public opinion varied like the weathercock. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- He gave me a most tremendous dip and roll, so that the church jumped over its own weathercock. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- Woman's a weathercock, Full of frivolity. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- Weathercock can without the wind, suggested Jo, as he paused for a simile. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- I'm afraid Laurie is hardly grown-up enough for Meg, and altogether too much of a weathercock just now for anyone to depend on. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- He told Master Hans about this, and the optician fixed two lenses in a tube, and looking at the weathercock on a neighboring steeple saw that it seemed much nearer and to be upside down. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- Now Mr. Laurence is looking up at the sky and the weathercock. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
Edited by Johanna