spatchcock
/ˈspæt͡ʃˌkɑk/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.44 in modern English
25
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To cut (poultry) along the spine and spread the halves apart for more even cooking.
Transitive verb
verb
Often followed by in or into: to interpolate or insert (something into another thing) awkwardly; to sandwich (something within another thing).
Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "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."
- "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 "sudden death.""
- "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."
- "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."
- "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?"
Etymology
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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈspæt͡ʃˌkɑk/
- British English: /ˈspæt͡ʃkɒk/
Usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Food.