cockscomb Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun garden annual with featherlike spikes of red or yellow flowers
    Celosia cristata; common cockscomb; Celosia argentea cristata.
  2. noun a conceited dandy who is overly impressed by his own accomplishments
    coxcomb.
  3. noun a cap worn by court jesters; adorned with a strip of red
    coxcomb.
  4. noun the fleshy red crest on the head of the domestic fowl and other gallinaceous birds
    coxcomb; comb.

WordNet

Cocks"comb noun
Etymology
1st cock, n. + comb crest.
Definitions
  1. See Coxcomb.
  2. (Bot.) A plant (Celosia cristata), of many varieties, cultivated for its broad, fantastic spikes of brilliant flowers; -- sometimes called garden cockscomb. Also the Pedicularis, or lousewort, the Rhinanthus Crista-galli, and the Onobrychis Crista-galli.

Webster 1913