English

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Etymology

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(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

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Verb

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chicken out (third-person singular simple present chickens out, present participle chickening out, simple past and past participle chickened out)

  1. (idiomatic) To shy away from a daring task; to decline, refuse, or avoid something due to fear or uncertainty.
    We almost convinced his dad to ride the roller coaster, but he chickened out when he saw how high it went.
    • 2022 June 29, K Shanmugam, “Hard Talk: K. Shanmugam: Will Singapore have to choose between the US and China?”, in BBC[1]:
      I dismiss Reporters Without Borders. Completely nonsensical. We invited them in for a select committee hearing, and in the true heritage of free speech, they chickened out.

Synonyms

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Translations

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