Emily Dickinson Lexicon

COCK'PIT, n.

1. A pit or area, where the game cocks fight. – Shak.
2. In ships of war, a room or apartment, in which the wounded men are dressed; situated near the after hatch-way, under the lower gun-deck. The fore-cockpit is a place leading to the magazine passage and the store-room of the boatswain, gunner and carpenter. – Mar. Dict.