The term “cock of the walk”, used to describe a man known for physical dominance and swagger, is rooted in the cockfighting culture of the 17th and 18th centuries.
Cockfighting is an illegal bloodsport where two roosters – bred and conditioned specifically for aggression – are placed in a ring to fight while spectators watch and often gamble on the outcome.
A “walk” was an outdoor enclosure or pen where the fighting birds were kept, exercised, or allowed to roam under supervision.
One rooster inevitably became the dominant, strutting ruler of the yard by crowing and attacking the others. This undisputed champion of the pen was literally the “cock of the walk”.
By the 1800’s, the metaphor had easily shifted to men from gamecocks: a powerful, swaggering, arrogant (maybe self-important and boastful too) man is the human version of a strutting, territorial cock with a puffed-up chest.
Roosters symbolize masculinity, virility, and fearlessness due to their aggressive behavior and territorial displays, confident crowing, and combative stance. When a man displays these traits, he is definitely the “cock of the walk”, and I love a tough rooster!