ppl. a. [cf. prec.] Faint-hearted, timorous, cowardly.
1660. H. Adis, Fannaticks Mite, *iv a. It will Corroborate the Cow-hearted.
1680. R. Mansell, Narr. Popish Plot, 16. She [Lady Powis] struck him gently with her Fan on the hand, calling him Cow-hearted Fellow.
1791. Beckford, trans. Pop. Tales Germans, II. 147. ‘Messmate, dost thou see any thing?’ cried the cow-hearted pilot from the coach-box.
1881. Chequered Career, 250. ‘You cow-hearted, slab-sided, cow-built wretch [a horse]!’
Hence Cow-heartedness.
1718. Motteux, Quix. (1733), III. 46. Valour lies just half way between Rashness and Cow-heartedness.
