Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. a male homosexual who plays the ‘masculine’/‘butch’ role [; note, while cit. 1906 refers to ‘thieves’, it is assumed in the euphs. of the period that ‘crimes of the very worst description’ / ‘hot bed of sin’, plus the use of the word ‘bent’ refer to homosexuality].

1906		O.C. Malvery Soul Market 242: From her I learned much of the habits of our neighbours. Of course many things that she told me would be utterly impossible to relate, and can only here be hinted at. From her I learned that most of the men in the house were ‘hocks’ or ‘dead bents,’ as she called common thieves. [...] Crimes of the very worst description were openly and sympathetically discussed, and one cannot help wondering why the authorities allow such a hot-bed of sin to exist.
1942		S.J. Baker Papers, Mitchell Lib. MS 165 Box 4 Bundle 2 File 3 Hock—homosexual.
1944		T. Hartley in Simes DAUS 105/2: hock, a A prisoner who is out to engage in homosexual practises. It is the least derogatory of the terms used for homosexuals.
1953		T.A.G. Hungerford Riverslake 23: ‘You flaming hock!’ Murdock scoffed.
1967		‘Whisper All Aussie Dict.’ in Kings Cross Whisper (Sydney) xxxv 6/2: hock: A masculine homosexual.
1972		B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular.
1984		B. Ellem Doing Time 129: It’s all right being a hock because that means you are a virile man. But a cat, it’s the same as being a queen outside; you’re looked down upon.
1990		Tupper & Wortley Aus. Prison Sl. Gloss. 🌐 Hock. A male person who takes the active role in a homosexual relationship.
2010		W. Ings ‘Trolling the Beat to Working the Soob’ in Int’l Jrnl Lexicog. 23:1 68: [A] hock described a man who sought active homosexual contact but was not classified as a queen or cat. [...] Newbold (1982: 249) describes hock in New Zealand boobslang as an ‘aggressive homosexual’.

2. (N.Z. gay) an otherwise heterosexual man who occasionally visits public lavatories for brief homosexual encounters.

2007

W. Ings Convenient Exchange 16: A hock was a straight man who sometimes used the bogs for sex with other men.