half cock: Meaning and Definition of

half' cock'

Pronunciation: [key]
  1. the position of the hammer of a firearm when held halfway between the firing and retracted positions by a mechanism so that it will not operate.

half-cock

Pronunciation: (haf'kok', häf'-), [key]
— v.t.
  1. to set the hammer of (a firearm) at half cock.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.