cock a

cock a snoot

To regard someone or something with disrespect. Primarily heard in UK. Don't you cock a snoot at my instructions—I'm your superior! If those brats will cock a snoot at their own mother, do you really think they're going to listen to their teachers? You cannot cock a snoot at the rules of the chemistry lab without also endangering the lives of everyone here.

See also: cock, snoot

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

cock a

snook/snoot Chiefly British

To thumb one's nose: "[The clock] is set wrong and hung crooked, as if to cock a snook at the importance of time" (Kevin Crossley-Holland).

See also: cock

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.