cock-up

Noun

cock-up (plural cock-ups)

1. (Commonwealth, mildly, slang, vulgar) A mistake.
   • If the zodiac was already developed in 2000 BC, it must have been kept as a cult secret or in some non-Babylonian country; this would be a 1500-year conspiracy theory. More likely is the individual cockup theory, viz. the naivety of Eudoxus himself.1998, John H. Roger, “Origins of the ancient constellations: II. The Mediterranean traditions”, in Journal of the British Astronomy Association, volume 108, number 2, page 81, column 2
   • And I'm sorry for all the cock-ups, my cabinet are absolute crap. We'll have to do better next year.2003, Richard Curtis, Love Actually, spoken by Prime Minister (Hugh Grant)

   Synonyms:

   screw-up, fuck-up, aberration, bloomer, blooper, blunder, boner, boo-boo, break, clanger

2. (Ireland, UK, obsolete, printers' slang) A superior letter; a lower-case letter placed above the baseline and made smaller than ordinary script; traditionally used in abbreviations.
   • The first word of every section or chapter is generally put in small capitals, after a small neat cock-up letter.1824, John Johnson, Typographia, volume 2, page 33
3. (Scotland, obsolete) A roll or twist of hair worn at the nape of the neck; a bun.
   • Cockernonie, a gathering up of the hair of women, after a fashion similar to that of the modern "chignon," and sometimes called a "cock-up." Mr. Kirkton, of Edinburgh, preaching against "cock-ups"—of which chignons were the representatives a quarter of a century ago—said: "I have been all this year...1888, Charles Mackay, A Dictionary of Lowland Scotch, page 30