[App. the same as bully-cocked, used 1721, prob. meaning ‘cocked after the fashion of the bullies’ or hectoring blades of the period: see BULLY and COCKED.] A colloquial term for a round low-crowned felt hat worn by men, and sometimes also by young women. Also attrib.
1721. Amherst, Terræ Filius, No. 46. 246. He [the Oxford ‘smart’] is easily distinguish’d by a stiff silk gown … a flaxen tie-wig … a broad bully-cocked hat, or a square cap of above twice the usual size.
1862. Life amongst Colliers, 35. I was told to take off my bonnet, and tie a ‘billy-cock’ (wide-awake) tight down.
1883. Even. Star, 12 Sept., 6/3. She, silly soul, is masculine from the crown of her billycock hat to the point of her laced-up, double-soled boots.
