spatchcock

Syllables: spatch·cock/ˈspæt͡ʃkɒk/US/ˈspæt͡ʃˌkɑk/

spatchcock noun: poultry which has been cut along the spine and spread out for more even cooking.

Image: jules, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

spatchcock (plural spatchcocks)

(also, attributive) Poultry which has been cut along the spine and spread out for more even cooking.
- Spatch cock, abbreviation of a diſpatch cock, an Iriſh diſh upon any ſudden occaſion. It is a hen juſt killed from the rooſt, or yard, and immediately ſkinned, ſplit, and broiled.[1785, [Francis Grose], “Spatch cock”, in A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, London: […] S[amuel] Hooper, […], →OCLC
- He then slew it [a chicken], dipped the corpse in boiling water to loosen the feathers, which he stripped off in masses, cut through its breast longitudinally, and with the aid of an iron plate, placed over a charcoal fire, proceeded to make a spatchcock, or as it is more popularly termed, a...1851, Richard F[rancis] Burton, “The Voyage”, in Goa, and the Blue Mountains; or, Six Months of Sick Leave, London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 9

Verb

spatchcock (third-person singular simple present spatchcocks, present participle spatchcocking, simple past and past participle spatchcocked)

(transitive) To cut (poultry) along the spine and spread the halves apart for more even cooking.
- For the party, he spatchcocked and grilled some chickens.
- Katniss [Everdeen] emerges alone, smeared in blood and muck and gnawing on the charred remains of a spatchcocked squirrel.2014 November 11, Robbie Collin, “The Hunger Games: Review”, in The Daily Telegraph, London: Telegraph Media Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26 May 2022
Synonyms:

frog
(figuratively, transitive) Often followed by in or into: to interpolate or insert (something into another thing) awkwardly; to sandwich (something within another thing).
- I, therefore, spatchcocked into the middle of that telegram a sentence in which I suggested it would be necessary to surrender the garrison, what he should do when he surrendered, and how he should do it.1901 October 11, Redvers Buller, quotee, “Sir R. Buller and his critics”, in The Times, number 36,583, London: George Edward Wright, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 10, column 2
- Why is the underplot of King Lear in which Edmund figures lifted out of [Philip] Sidney's Arcadia and spatchcocked on to a Celtic legend older than history?1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 9: Scylla and Charybdis]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC, part II [Odyssey], page 203

spatchcock meaning in Tamil

spatchcock in Tamil

அவசரத்திற்கொன்று சமைக்கப்பட்ட கோழி

Synonyms of spatchcock

frog

Forms of spatchcock

Noun
plural	spatchcocks
Verb
third-person singular present	spatchcocks
present participle	spatchcocking
past participle	spatchcocked
past	spatchcocked

Origin of spatchcock

The noun is probably derived from one of the following: * A variant of spitchcock (“eel split lengthwise and broiled”). from Middle English spiche-coke, The further etymology is uncertain; the following possibilities have been suggested: ** From Middle English *speche, *spiche (“to split”) + cock, coken (“to allow (something) to cook; to cook”). ** From spik (“animal fat, especially lard”), spik, spike (“large nail; pointed stud”), or spit, spite (“rod for cooking meat, spit; pointed object”); + cok (“male of the common domestic fowl, cock, rooster”). * From Irish spot (“spot”) or spochta (the past participle of spoch (“to cut, clip”)) + coc (“male of the common domestic fowl, cock, rooster”). A derivation from (di)spatch (“to dispose of speedily; to make a speedy end of”) + cock is now thought to be unlikely. In a few texts from the 1400s–1700s the form smatchcock is found, possibly an error or an alteration under the influence of smatch (“a taste, a flavor”). The verb is derived from the noun.

Words formed from spatchcock

Questions about spatchcock

What does spatchcock mean?: Spatchcock means poultry which has been cut along the spine and spread out for more even cooking.
What is spatchcock in Tamil?: Spatchcock in Tamil is அவசரத்திற்கொன்று சமைக்கப்பட்ட கோழி. See Spatchcock meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is spatchcock?: Spatchcock can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce spatchcock?: Spatchcock is pronounced /ˈspæt͡ʃkɒk/ (UK).
What is the plural of spatchcock?: The plural of spatchcock is spatchcocks.

Words near spatchcock in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: spatchcock (page history and authors); spatchcock (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-spatchcock.wav.

Cite this entry: “spatchcock.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/spatchcock. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.