COG (cogged, cogging)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: cogged    , cogging   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does cog mean? 

• COG (noun)
  The noun COG has 2 senses:

1. a subordinate who performs an important but routine function

2. tooth on the rim of gear wheel

  Familiarity information: COG used as a noun is rare.

• COG (verb)
  The verb COG has 2 senses:

1. roll steel ingots

2. join pieces of wood with cogs

  Familiarity information: COG used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• COG (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A subordinate who performs an important but routine function

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Context example:

he was a small cog in a large machine

Hypernyms ("cog" is a kind of...):

foot soldier; subordinate; subsidiary; underling (an assistant subject to the authority or control of another)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Tooth on the rim of gear wheel

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

cog; sprocket

Hypernyms ("cog" is a kind of...):

tooth (something resembling the tooth of an animal)

Holonyms ("cog" is a part of...):

cogwheel; gear; gear wheel; geared wheel (a toothed wheel that engages another toothed mechanism in order to change the speed or direction of transmitted motion)

Derivation:

cog (join pieces of wood with cogs)

• COG (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Roll steel ingots

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "cog" is one way to...):

roll; roll out (flatten or spread with a roller)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Join pieces of wood with cogs

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "cog" is one way to...):

join (cause to become joined or linked)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

cog (tooth on the rim of gear wheel)

 Context examples 

Now the cog's head was turned Francewards, and the shipman walked the deck, a peaceful master-mariner once more.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

They seemed cogs in a machine.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Wouters H, van Gool WA, Schmand B, Lindeboom R. Revising the ADAS-cog for a more accurate assessment of cognitive impairment.

(Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive CDISC Version Questionnaire, NCI Thesaurus)

The vessels were indeed so far apart now that the Genoese could use the full sweep of their oars, and draw away rapidly from the cog.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

And he could conclude only that there were no warm human men at the other end, only mere cogs, well oiled and running beautifully in the machine.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Now, too, the archers had room to draw their bows once more, and great stones from the yard of the cog came thundering and crashing among the flying rovers.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A cog must have slipped or an oil-cup run dry, for the postman brought him one morning a short, thin envelope.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

“There is sad scath done to the cog, Sir Nigel,” said he.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It was all wheels and cogs and oil-cups—a clever mechanism operated by automatons.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

For two days the yellow cog ran swiftly before a northeasterly wind, and on the dawn of the third the high land of Ushant lay like a mist upon the shimmering sky-line.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)