to beat the cock
- idiom
- Archaic
:
levantarse al amanecer
- She likes to beat the cock and enjoy the quiet of early morning.
Examples
-
Farmers often have to beat the cock to get their work done before the heat sets in.
-
If you beat the cock, you'll have plenty of time to prepare for the day.
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I usually beat the cock to start my day early.
-
Did you beat the cock this morning?
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To avoid the heat, the farmer had to beat the cock and start working before dawn.
-
If you want to see the sunrise, you need to beat the cock and wake up early.
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She prefers to beat the cock so she can enjoy solitude before everyone else wakes up.
Synonyms
65
1.0
To rise from bed early in the morning
3
1.0
To get out of bed early in the morning
1
9.1
Awake and active very early in the morning
Wake very early in the morning, often before dawn
Get up very early at sunrise
Wake up very early in the morning, often at sunrise
Antonyms
How Early
Surface Forms
Morphology
The link between 'cock' (rooster) and dawn gives a metaphorical clue — roosters crow at sunrise — and 'beat' can imply doing something before or against someone, so there is a partial, culturally grounded relation to getting up early. However, the specific sense 'to wake up very early' is not directly derivable from the literal meanings without prior exposure, so a B1 learner would likely find it only partly predictable.
Etymology
Beat the cock comes from farm life: farmers tried to beat the cock, the 'rooster', by getting up before it crowed. That's why it now means 'wake up very early'.