chicken

1 of 3

noun

chick·​en ˈchi-kᵊn 

 sometimes  -kᵊŋ

plural chickens

1

a

: the common domestic fowl (Gallus gallus) especially when young

also : its flesh used as food compare jungle fowl

b

: any of various birds or their young

2

: a young woman

3

a

: coward

b

: any of various contests in which the participants risk personal safety in order to see which one will give up first

4

[short for chickenshit] slang : petty details

5

slang : a young or youthful gay man

also : a boy or young man regarded as an object of sexual interest especially by a man compare chicken hawk sense 3

chicken

2 of 3

adjective

1

a

: scared

b

: timid, cowardly

2

slang

a

: insistent on petty details of duty or discipline

b

: petty, unimportant

chicken

3 of 3

verb

chickened; chickening ˈchi-kᵊn-iŋ 

ˈchik-niŋ

intransitive verb

: to lose one's nerve

—usually used with out

seemed to exhibit courage, manliness, and conviction when others chickened out

—J. R. Seeley

Synonyms

Noun

• coward
• craven
• cur
• dastard
• funk
• poltroon
• recreant
• sissy

Adjective

• chicken-livered
• chickenhearted
• cowardly
• craven
• dastardly
• gutless
• lily-livered
• milk-livered [archaic]
• poltroon
• pusillanimous
• recreant
• spineless
• unheroic
• yellow

Examples of chicken in a Sentence

Noun

We had chicken for dinner.

It's just a spider, you chicken!

Don't be such a big chicken.

Adjective

too chicken to go through with the stunt

just concentrate on the important duties of the job and forget about the chicken stuff

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Whoever was in charge of buying the kibble may have had a choice among, say, salmon, chicken, and beef, but those distinctions were less about a meaningful difference in taste or composition than about the feeble work of flavoring agents. —Ellen Cushing, The Atlantic, 21 June 2024

The 51-year-old supermodel appeared on the Thursday, June 20 episode of Sean Evans' YouTube series in which guests eat chicken wings with progressively spicier sauces while answering questions about their life and career. —Catherine Santino, Peoplemag, 20 June 2024

Other choices include sweet and sour chicken, chicken with noodles and paneer or chicken tikka masala. —Mari Pressley, Charlotte Observer, 20 June 2024

Consumer Reports also took note of the complaints, delving into whether there are safety concerns related to bags leaking chicken juice. —Kate Gibson, CBS News, 20 June 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English chiken, from Old English cicen young chicken; akin to Old English cocc cock

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Adjective

1883, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1943, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing chicken

• chicken-and-egg
• chicken colonel
• chicken feed
• chicken-fried steak
• chicken hawk
• chicken-livered
• chicken mushroom
• chicken noodle soup
• chicken of the woods
• chicken out
• chicken pox
• chicken snake
• chicken soup
• chicken wire
• like a chicken with its head cut off
• Mother Carey's chicken
• prairie chicken
• rubber-chicken
• running around like a chicken with its head cut off
• spring chicken

Kids Definition

chicken

1 of 3 noun

chick·​en ˈchik-ən 

1

: the common domestic fowl especially when young

also : its flesh used as food

2

: any of various birds or their young

3

: coward

chicken

2 of 3 adjective

: cowardly sense 1

chicken

3 of 3 verb

chickened; chickening ˈchik-(ə-)niŋ 

: to lose one's courage

—usually used with out