Word forms: plural, 3rd person singular presenttense chickens, present participle chickening, past tense, past participle chickened
1. countable noun
Chickens are birds which are kept on a farm for their eggs and for their meat.
Lionel built a coop so that they could raise chickens and have a supply of fresheggs.
...free-range chickens.
Chicken is the flesh of this bird eaten as food.
...roast chicken with wild mushrooms.
...chicken soup.
2. countable noun
If someone calls you a chicken, they mean that you are afraid to do something.
[informal, disapproval]
I'm scared of the dark. I'm a big chicken.
Chicken is also an adjective.
Why are you so chicken, Gregory?
3.
See count one's chickens
4.
See a chicken and egg situation
5.
See run around like a headless chicken/rush around like a headless chicken
6. chickens come home to roost
Phrasal verbs:
See chicken out
chicken in British English
(ˈtʃɪkɪn)
noun
1.
a domestic fowl bred for its flesh or eggs, esp a young one
2.
the flesh of such a bird used for food
3.
any of various similar birds, such as a prairie chicken
4. slang
a cowardly person
5. slang
a young inexperienced person
6. informal
any of various, often dangerous, games or challenges in which the object is to make one's opponent lose his or her nerve
7. count one's chickens before they are hatched
8. like a headless chicken
9. no chicken
adjective
10. slang
easily scared; cowardly; timid
Word origin
Old English ciecen; related to Old Norse kjūklingr gosling, Middle Low German küken chicken
chicken in American English
(ˈtʃɪkən)
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
a.
a timid or cowardly person
b.
a young male homosexual
6. Slang Mil
petty insistence on rules
adjective
7.
made of chicken
chicken croquettes
8.
small and tender
a chicken lobster
9. Slang
timid or cowardly
10. US, Slang Mil
characterized by unnecessary discipline or pettiness
verb intransitive US
11. Slang
to lose courage and abandon a plan or action
usually with out
Idioms:
count one's chickens before they are hatched
play chicken
Word origin
ME chicken < OE cycen < WGmc *kiukina < *kiuk-; like cock1, of echoic orig.; akin to MLowG kûken (Du kuiken, kieken); (senses 6 and 10) < chickenshit
chicken in Hospitality
(tʃɪkɪn)
noun
(Hospitality (hotel): Food and drink, meat)
Chicken is the flesh of a type of bird which is kept on a farm for its eggs and for its meat,eaten as food.
COLLOCATIONS: roast ~fried ~~ wing
Choose from roast chicken, grilled steaks and pork fillets.
Chicken needs slightly longer to cook than other birds such as duck and goose.
Fresh poultry, including chicken and turkey, should be stored in the coldest part of the fridge.
Serve the chicken with salads and chips or potatoes.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Both chicken and salad are dressed with a dijon mustard vinaigrette.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
Total 4.45 for a week of fresh chicken salad sandwiches.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
We made a pie with some chickens from the farm, peppers and onion.
The Sun (2016)
Chicken with shallot vinaigrette and green salad Finely chopped shallot has an uplifting effect on roast chicken.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
So it's a bit chicken and egg.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
The lack of clear thinking ended with England being headless chickens in Nice.
The Sun (2016)
I said to the waiter:'There is no chicken in this chicken soup.
The Sun (2016)
Just one skinless chicken thigh contains more than half of our daily requirement of vitamin B12, which our bodies need to make red blood cells.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
Will the elephant have a chicken sandwich?
Stanley Bing THROWING THE ELEPHANT (2002)
We saw staff mixing cooked meat and chicken with raw food.
The Sun (2012)
She came back the next day with two big bags containing three roast chickens and some salads.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
House flies are most abundant around chicken farms.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
The industry makes money selling chicken and is responsible for making it safe.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Remove the chicken fillets from the freezer bag and place in the pan.
The Sun (2013)
There are only so many hoummos and carrot or dry chicken salad sandwiches one can take.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
Extra time became the game of chicken it so often does.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
This recipe can also be made into a soup by adding chicken stock.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
They keep chickens in a coop on the roof and a sheep in the yard.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
This recipe differs only slightly from a classic roast chicken.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Part of the problem is chicken and egg.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
That means forgetting about chicken and anything with bones.
The Sun (2008)
He skipped bail and was caught trying to steal a chicken sandwich and some plasters.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Eat more vegetarian foods and substitute fish and chicken instead of meat.
Holford, Patrick The Family Nutrition Workbook (1988)
Serve with the chicken stuffing and salad.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
We all went out there like headless chickens.
Frankie Dettori with Jonathan Powell FRANKIE: The Autobiography of Frankie Dettori (2004)
Make sure the chicken is fully cooked through before serving with a good green salad and wedges of avocado.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
The disease is commonly found in bacteria in the gut of poultry and wild birds and in litter used on chicken farms.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Our main courses of roast lamb with aubergine and free-range chicken pie went down well.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Word lists with
chicken
affection, bird
In other languages
chicken
British English: chicken /ˈtʃɪkɪn/ NOUN
bird A chicken is a bird that is kept on a farm for its eggs and meat.
American English: chicken
Arabic: دَجَاجَة
Brazilian Portuguese: galinha
Chinese: 鸡
Croatian: pile
Czech: kuře
Danish: kylling
Dutch: kip
European Spanish: gallina
Finnish: kana
French: poulet
German: Huhn
Greek: κοτόπουλο
Italian: pollo
Japanese: 鶏
Korean: 닭
Norwegian: kylling
Polish: kurczak
European Portuguese: galinha
Romanian: pui de găină
Russian: курица
Latin American Spanish: pollo
Swedish: kyckling
Thai: ไก่
Turkish: tavuk
Ukrainian: курча
Vietnamese: con gà
British English: chicken /ˈtʃɪkɪn/ NOUN
meatChicken is the meat that comes from chickens.
American English: chicken
Arabic: دَجَاج
Brazilian Portuguese: frango
Chinese: 鸡肉
Croatian: piletina
Czech: kuřecímaso
Danish: kylling
Dutch: kip
European Spanish: pollo
Finnish: kana
French: pouletviande
German: Hühnerfleisch
Greek: κοτόπουλο
Italian: pollo
Japanese: 鶏肉
Korean: 닭
Norwegian: kylling
Polish: drób
European Portuguese: frango
Romanian: carne de găină
Russian: курятина
Latin American Spanish: pollo
Swedish: kyckling
Thai: เนื้อไก่
Turkish: tavuk
Ukrainian: курятина
Vietnamese: thịt gà
All related terms of 'chicken'
chicken out
If someone chickens out of something they were intending to do, they decide not to do it because they are afraid .
chicken run
the departure of white residents from South Africa
no chicken
no longer young
chicken coop
a coop for chickens
chicken divan
a casserole of boned chicken breast , broccoli or asparagus spears , and cheese sauce
chicken feed
If you think that an amount of money is so small it is hardly worth having or considering, you can say that it is chicken feed .
chicken-fried
(of meats , esp steak ) coated in seasoned flour and pan-fried
chicken hawk
any of various hawks , esp. an accipiter , that prey , or are reputed to prey, on barnyard fowl
chicken Kiev
boned chicken breasts pounded until thin, wrapped around lumps of herbed butter , breaded, and fried in butter or deep fat , and usually served with kasha or brown rice
chicken liver
the liver of chicken , considered as food
chicken louse
a louse , Menopon pallidum (or gallinae ); a parasite of poultry : order Mallophaga (bird lice)
chicken snake
→ rat snake
chicken wire
Chicken wire is a type of thin wire netting.
city chicken
pieces of pork or veal that are skewered and breaded, and cooked by braising or baking
Digby chicken
dried herring
lean chicken
Chickens are birds which are kept on a farm for their eggs and for their meat.
play chicken
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
chicken breast
→ pigeon breast
chicken cholera
Veterinary Science See fowl cholera
chicken colonel
an officer with the rank of full colonel
chicken fillet
a fillet cut from a chicken
chicken-hearted
easily frightened ; cowardly
Chicken Little
a person who spreads baseless or exaggerated reports of danger; alarmist
chicken nuggets
small pieces of chicken fried in batter
prairie chicken
either of two mottled brown-and-white grouse , Tympanuchus cupido or T . pallidicinctus, of North America
spring chicken
If you say that someone is no spring chicken , you are saying that they are not young.
chicken drumstick
a chicken leg, considered as food
coronation chicken
a dish of cold cooked chicken in a mild creamy curry sauce
chicken-and-egg
a situation where you cannot decide which of two related things happened first and caused the other
free-range chicken
a chicken kept in natural nonintensive conditions
no spring chicken
someone who is no longer young. This expression is often used when you think someone's appearance or behaviour is surprising for their age .
chicken-fried steak
a cheap cut of beefsteak that is fried in batter
mobile phone chicken
a highly dangerous game in which a person is challenged to perform a hazardous stunt which he or she films with a camera phone
chickenpox
Chickenpox is a disease which gives you a high temperature and red spots that itch .
Mother Carey's chicken
→ storm petrel
chickenfeed
If you think that an amount of money is so small it is hardly worth having or considering, you can say that it is chickenfeed .
like a headless chicken
in an uncontrolled or disorganized way, and not calmly or logically
poultry dealer
a person who rears domestic fowls , esp chickens , for their eggs or meat
a chicken and egg situation
If you describe a situation as a chicken and egg situation, you mean that it is impossible to decide which of two things caused the other one.
she is no spring chicken
she is no longer young
pigeon breast
a deformity of the chest characterized by an abnormal protrusion of the breastbone , caused by rickets or by obstructed breathing during infancy
poultryman
a person who rears domestic fowls , esp chickens , for their eggs or meat
poultrymen
a person who rears domestic fowls , esp chickens , for their eggs or meat
run around like a headless chicken/rush around like a headless chicken
If someone is running round like a headless chicken or rushing around like a headless chicken , they are panicking when they should be thinking carefully about what needs to be done.