fight cocum

English

Etymology

Hotten (see References) suggests that cocum might be related to the Scottish keek (“peep or pry”).

Verb

fight cocum (third-person singular simple present fights cocum, present participle fighting cocum, simple past and past participle fought cocum)

1. (thieves' cant, obsolete) To be wily and cautious.
   • 1848, George William MacArthur Reynolds, Esther de Medina: Or, The Crimes of London, page 79:

     So Tim didn't fight cocum enough, and was grabbed.

   • 1859, Snowden's magistrates assistant, page 498:

     I have got the Yacks, so do not come it. Fight cocum.

References

• John Camden Hotten (1873) The Slang Dictionary