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chicken Definition

chicken (c̸hik′ən)

noun

  1. a common gallinaceous farm bird (Gallus domesticus) raised for its edible eggs or flesh; hen or rooster, esp. a young one: classed in a family (Phasianidae) that includes pheasants, quail, and peafowl
  2. the flesh of this bird
  3. any young bird; chick
  4. a young or inexperienced person
  5. Slang
    1. a timid or cowardly person
    2. a young male homosexual

  6. Etymology: < chickenshit

    Mil. Slang petty insistence on rules

Etymology: ME chicken < OE cycen < WGmc *kiukina < *kiuk-; like cock, of echoic orig.; akin to MLowG kûken (Du kuiken, kieken)

adjective

  1. made of chicken chicken croquettes
  2. small and tender a chicken lobster
  3. Slang timid or cowardly
  4. ☆

    Etymology: cf. chicken

    Mil. Slang characterized by unnecessary discipline or pettiness

intransitive verb

Slang to lose courage and abandon a plan or action: usually with out
chicken Idioms

count one's chickens before they are hatched

to count on something that may not materialize

play chicken

☆
  1. to engage in a test of courage in which, typically, two vehicles are driven directly toward one another in order to see which driver will swerve away first
  2. Slang to engage in mutual challenges or threats, hoping the opponent will withdraw before actual conflict or collision
chicken Synonyms

chicken

n.

  1. A barnyard fowl

    chick, hen, rooster, pullet, cock, cockerel, capon, chanticleer, biddy, broiler, fryer, roaster, fowl, poulard, squab chicken, free-range chicken; see also fowl.

    Breeds of chickens include: Black Cochin, Buff Cochin, Partridge Cochin, White Cochin, Game, Indian Game, Houdan, Java, Dorking, Hamburg, Wyandotte, Black Leghorn, White Leghorn, Minorca, Buff Orpington, White Orpington, Rhode Island Red, Barred Plymouth Rock, Barred Rock, Plymouth Rock, White Plymouth Rock, White Rock.

  2. Flesh of the chicken].

    Parts of the chicken include: breast, back, thigh, leg, wing, neck, giblets, heart, liver, gizzard, dark meat, white meat, light meat, drumstick*, part that goes over the fence last*;

  3. *A coward

    recreant, dastard, craven; see coward.

count one's chickens before they are hatched*

rely, rely on, depend on, put trust in; see anticipate 1.

chicken Usage Examples

Preposition: from

  • marinade: Cooking Drain the chicken from the marinade keeping the juices for later.

Converse of object

  • marinate: Main couse we both fancied the grilled chicken marinated in lime.
  • cook: They neither gave them anything nor did they cook a chicken for them.

Adjective modifier

  • headless: Doing all of these things instead of running around a job, often like a headless chicken.
  • fried: Now you could decide that you were going to eat fried chicken the rest of your life.
  • grilled: Here are a few pointers to uncovering these new green light menu options: Salads are your best option, usually with grilled chicken.
  • free-range: The results are pretty conclusive on free-range chicken, beef and eggs.
  • Cajun: Monday 17th July only - Two people can dine for £ 8.95 - 8oz steak, Cajun chicken or 8oz gammon.
  • frozen: One of their first pop videos involved working with frozen chickens for three days under the lights at Peter Gabriel's studio.

Modifies a noun

  • pox: At the breakfast table the next morning, my friends seem to have been hit by a sudden bout of chicken pox.
  • breast: Based on a 100 gram serving of chicken breast, meat only, roasted.
  • nugget: Apparently some chicken nuggets contain up to 80 percent bleached, flavored beef!
  • tikka: I would only offer a few cautions: first, the chicken tikka massala I had once was an alarmingly bright red.
  • coop: The chicken coops were often on the quarter deck.
  • broth: Add the pumpkin pulp and the chicken broth; stir well.

Noun used with modifier

  • broiler: Broiler Chickens Eight hundred million broiler chickens are killed for their flesh every year in the UK.
  • roast: Roast Chicken: The UK's fourth favorite flavor has never really struck the cultural chords that other flavors have managed.
  • eglu: O Omlet Ltd Suppliers of the award-winning eglu chicken house.
  • jerk: Thanks to the significant Caribbean and Asian populations in Bristol, there are no shortage of curries and jerk chicken in the city center.
  • rotisserie: Specialities include hearty cassoulet, shellfish, and rotisserie chicken.
chicken Quotes

An aristocracy in a republic is like a chicken whose head has been cut off: it may run about in a lively way, but in fact it is dead.

—Mitford, Nancy Freeman

Sitting as huge as Asia, seismic with laughter, Gin and chicken helpless in her Irish hand.

—Barker, George Granville

What's a thousand dollars? Mere chicken feed. A poultry matter.

—Marx, Groucho originally Julius Henry Marx

When I warned the French that Britain would fight on alone,General Weygand told their Prime Minister and his divided Cabinetthat inthreeweeks England will have her neck wrung like a chicken. Some chicken, some neck!

—Churchill, Lord Randolph Henry Spencer