fowl

1 of 2

noun

ˈfau̇(-ə)l 

plural fowl or fowls

1

: a bird of any kind compare waterfowl, wildfowl

2

a

: a cock or hen of the domestic chicken (Gallus gallus)

especially : an adult hen

b

: any of several domesticated (see domesticate entry 1 sense 2) or wild gallinaceous birds compare guinea fowl, jungle fowl

3

: the meat of fowls used as food

roasted fowl

fowl

2 of 2

verb

fowled; fowling; fowls

intransitive verb

: to seek, catch, or kill wildfowl

Examples of fowl in a Sentence

Noun

I spotted a long-legged fowl by the water's edge.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Scientists examined tools used to prepare food hundreds of thousands of years ago and found substances indicating that ancient humans ate not only meat, including rodents and water fowl, but also a range of plants such as grasses, nuts, wheat, oats, rye, barley, water chestnuts, and water lilies. —Tom Gavin, EverydayHealth.com, 13 Jan. 2025

Not to be snood-y about it, but this fowl tradition has a long and oft-confused history. —Domenico Montanaro, NPR, 25 Nov. 2024

Instead of live birds, about 500 little foam turkeys will be tossed from a helicopter to the ground around the San Carlos museum at 11 a.m. Kids — and adults — are welcome to take home the squeezable fowl as a memento, and there’ll also be a turkey hunt inside the museum. —Sal Pizarro, The Mercury News, 27 Nov. 2024

An additional provision of this law includes the sale, barter or gift of ducklings, baby chickens or fowl under 2 months old. —Ashlyn Messier, Fox News, 21 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun and Verb

Middle English foul, from Old English fugel; akin to Old High German fogal bird, and probably to Old English flēogan to fly — more at fly

First Known Use

Noun

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

Verb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing fowl

• jungle fowl
• neither fish nor fowl

Kids Definition

fowl

1 of 2 noun

ˈfau̇(ə)l 

plural fowl or fowls

1

: bird entry 1 sense 1: as

a

: a domestic cock or hen

especially : a full-grown hen

b

: any of several domesticated or wild birds related to the common domestic chicken

2

: the meat of fowl used as food

fowl

2 of 2 verb

: to hunt, catch, or kill wildfowl

fowler noun