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to cock up
[phrase form: cock]
01
to mess up something, often due to the lack of necessary ability or knowledge
Dialect
British
British
Informal
Grammatical Information
Composition
phrasal
Action verb
Regular
Separable
Particle
up
Base verb
cock
Present tense
cock up
3rd person singular
cocks up
Present participle
cocking up
Past simple
cocked up
Past participle
cocked up
Examples
They totally cocked up the project by failing to coordinate the tasks properly.
02
(of an animal) to lift ears in an alert manner
Examples
The dog cocked up its ears when it heard a strange noise.
