Cockney | n.; pl. Cockneys [ OE. cocknay, cokenay, a spoiled child, effeminate person, an egg; prob. orig. a cock's egg, a small imperfect egg; OE. cok cock + nay, neye, for ey egg (cf. Newt), AS. æg. See 1st Cock, Egg, n. ] 1. An effeminate person; a spoilt child. “A young heir or cockney, that is his mother's darling.” Nash (1592). [ 1913 Webster ] This great lubber, the world, will prove a cockney. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ] 2. A native or resident of the city of London, especially one living in the East End district; -- sometimes used contemptuously. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ] A cockney in a rural village was stared at as much as if he had entered a kraal of Hottentots. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ] 3. the distinctive dialect of a cockney{ 2 }. [ PJC ] |