English

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Etymology

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

Verb

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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

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  • John Camden Hotten (1873) The Slang Dictionary