cockfighting, sport of pitting gamecocks against one other. Though popular in ancient Greece, Persia, and Rome, cockfighting has been long opposed by clergy and humane groups. Massachusetts passed (1836) the first law in the United States forbidding cockfighting; England banned it in 1849. Cockfighting jousts take place in a small circular pit into which the gamecocks—specially bred and trained for fighting—are placed beak to beak by their handlers and then released. A combatant wins when its opponent is unable to fight, or is killed. Metal spurs, occasionally attached to the fowl's natural spurs, make action deadlier. The sport is still popular in Latin America, Africa, Southeast Asia, the Philippines, and the Middle East, and—despite its illegality—parts of the United States. It is nearly always the focus of frenzied gambling, as anthropologist Clifford Geertz noted in his famous study on the Balinese cockfight (1973).

Contest in which gamecocks, often fitted with metal spurs, are pitted against each other. Fights are usually to the death. An ancient and widespread sport, cockfighting traditionally involves betting on single matches or a series of pairings. Though many countries have banned or restricted it, the laws are not always strictly enforced and illegal matches are often held privately.

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