chicken
See also: Chicken
Contents
EnglishEdit
PronunciationEdit
Etymology 1Edit
From Middle English chicken, from Old English ċicen, cycen (“chicken”), diminutive of coc, cocc (“cock, rooster”), or from Proto-Germanic *kiukīną (“chicken”). Cognate with North Frisian schückling (“chicken”), Saterland Frisian Sjuuken (“chicken”), Dutch kuiken (“chick, chicken”), Low German küken (“chicken”), German Küken (“chick”), German dialectal Küchlein (“chicken”) and Old Norse kjúklingr (“chicken”). More at cock, -en.
NounEdit
chicken (countable and uncountable, plural chickens)
- (countable) A domestic fowl, Gallus gallus, especially when young
- (uncountable) The meat from this bird eaten as food.
- (countable, slang) A coward.
- (countable, gay slang) A young, attractive, slim man, usually having little body hair. Compare chickenhawk
- (countable, slang) A young or inexperienced person.
- 1887, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet, III:
- "This case will make a stir, sir," he remarked. "It beats anything I have seen, and I am no chicken."
- Jonathan Swift
- Stella is no chicken.
- 1887, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet, III:
- A confrontational game in which the participants move toward each other at high speed (usually in automobiles); the player who turns first to avoid colliding into the other is the chicken (i.e., the loser.)
- Don't play chicken with a freight train; you're guaranteed to lose.
- The game of dare.
SynonymsEdit
- (bird): cock (male only), chook (Australia, NZ), hen (female only), rooster (male only)
- (coward): see Wikisaurus:coward
- (young, attractive, slim man): twink
- (young inexperienced person): spring chicken
Derived termsEdit
Terms derived from chicken (noun)
Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
bird
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meat
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coward
young, attractive, slim man — see twink
AdjectiveEdit
chicken (comparative more chicken, superlative most chicken)
Derived termsEdit
VerbEdit
chicken (third-person singular simple present chickens, present participle chickening, simple past and past participle chickened)
- (Can we verify(+) this sense?) (intransitive) To develop physical or other characteristics resembling a chicken's, for example, bumps on the skin.
See alsoEdit
Etymology 2Edit
Shortening of chicken out.
VerbEdit
chicken (third-person singular simple present chickens, present participle chickening, simple past and past participle chickened)
- (intransitive) To avoid a situation one is afraid of.
- 1964. Anyone Got a Match?. Max Shulman. Pg. 31.
- For the umpteenth time, I chickened.
- 1968. The Chicken Run: A Play for Young People. Aidan Chambers. Pg. 81.
- All right, so I chickened.
- Belonging: The story of how James became a Brown. Anne M. Brown.
- Even if he slipped and failed, or worse, chickened, they would be unlikely to judge too harshly.
- 1964. Anyone Got a Match?. Max Shulman. Pg. 31.