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chicken
[ chik-uhn ]
noun
- a domestic fowl, Gallus domesticus, descended from various jungle fowl, especially the red jungle fowl, and developed in a number of breeds for its flesh, eggs, and feathers.
- the young of this bird, especially when less than a year old.
- the flesh of the chicken, especially of the young bird, used as food.
- Slang.
- a cowardly or fearful person.
- a young or inexperienced person, especially a young girl.
- petty details or tasks.
- unnecessary discipline or regulations.
- a young gay male, especially one sought as a sexual partner by older men.
- a contest in which two cars approach each other at high speed down the center of a road, the object being to force one's opponent to veer away first.
- a policy or strategy of challenging an opponent to risk a clash or yield:
diplomats playing chicken at the conference table.
adjective
- (of food) containing, made from, or having the flavor of chicken:
chicken salad; chicken soup.
- Slang.
- petty or trivial:
a chicken regulation.
- obsessed with petty details, regulations, etc.:
He's quitting this chicken outfit to become his own boss.
verb phrase
- Slang.
- to refrain from doing something because of fear or cowardice:
I chickened out when I saw how deep the water was.
- to renege or withdraw:
You can't chicken out of this business deal now.
chicken
/ ˈʃɪɪ /
noun
- a domestic fowl bred for its flesh or eggs, esp a young one
- the flesh of such a bird used for food
- any of various similar birds, such as a prairie chicken
- slang.a cowardly person
- slang.a young inexperienced person
- slang.an underage boy or girl regarded as a potential target for sexual abuse
- informal.any of various, often dangerous, games or challenges in which the object is to make one's opponent lose his nerve
- count one's chickens before they are hatchedto be overoptimistic in acting on expectations which are not yet fulfilled
- like a headless chicken informal.disorganized and uncontrolled
- no chicken or no spring chicken slang.no longer young
she's no chicken
adjective
- slang.easily scared; cowardly; timid
51Թ History and Origins
Origin of chicken1
51Թ History and Origins
Origin of chicken1
Idioms and Phrases
- count one's chickens before they are hatched, to rely on a benefit that is still uncertain:
They were already spending wildly, in anticipation of their inheritance, counting their chickens before they were hatched.
More idioms and phrases containing chicken
- count one's chickens
- go to bed with (the chickens)
- like a chicken with its head cut off
- no spring chicken
Example Sentences
Turns out what you get when you mix hot lava and chicken is actually a tiny little hit.
Essentially the idea, for which the secretary of agriculture Brooke Rollins has also voiced support, seems to be that survivors might become super chickens with innate resistance to bird flu.
It’s a capitalist “chicken or egg” question that, just half a decade ago, would’ve been difficult to treat as anything other than a thought experiment.
Grab a steak, a piece of chicken, or some fish and just cook it!
Similar to how I cook chicken breast in the air fryer, my primary goal is texture: crispness, browning, crunch.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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