petcock

or pet cock

[ pet-kok ]
/ ˈpɛtˌkɒk /

noun

a small valve or faucet, as for draining off excess or waste material from the cylinder of a steam engine or an internal-combustion engine.

Origin of petcock

1860–65; pet, perhaps < French pet (see petard) + cock1

Example sentences from the Web for petcock

  • One crawled in and settled down, and turned the petcock that inflated the cover.

    Space Tug |Murray Leinster

British Dictionary definitions for petcock

petcock
/ (ˈpɛtˌkɒk) /

noun

a small valve for checking the water level in a steam boiler or draining condensed steam from the cylinder of a steam engine

Word Origin for petcock

C19: from pet 1 or perhaps French pet, from péter to break wind + cock 1