Quote Originally Posted by Fluidic Kimbo View Post
What does 'cock' mean in American English? Like if I say, "He cocked his pistol at me", does that mean:

a) He pointed his pistol at me
b) He dragged the slide back or pulled the hammer back

The reason I ask is that nowadays I think people say it to mean B, even though the original meaning I think was A.
Fully cocked means that the hammer is all the way back and under tension. ready to be released by the sear.

Not all guns have a "half-cocked" setting, but that's where the hammer is partially pulled back, but the sear will not be activated by the pulling the trigger. It's kind of a "safe mode." It goes all the way back to flintlocks. The lock would resemble the head of a bird especially when the hammer was back.

Pointing a pistol at somebody has never meant "cocked." Nor does a slide being racked mean "cocked."