Definitions for chicken
ˈtʃɪk ənchick·en

Princeton's WordNet(3.50 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. chicken, poulet, volaillenoun

   the flesh of a chicken used for food

2. chicken, Gallus gallusnoun

   a domestic fowl bred for flesh or eggs; believed to have been developed from the red jungle fowl

3. wimp, chicken, crybabynoun

   a person who lacks confidence, is irresolute and wishy-washy

4. chickenadjective

   a foolhardy competition; a dangerous activity that is continued until one competitor becomes afraid and stops

5. chicken, chickenhearted, lily-livered, white-livered, yellow, yellow-belliedadjective

   easily frightened

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. chickennoun

   A domestic fowl, Gallus gallus, especially when young

2. chickennoun

   The meat from this bird eaten as food.

3. chickennoun

   A coward.

   I told him I wasn't having his insults, and he just backed right down. What a chicken-shit.

4. chickennoun

   A young, attractive, slim man, usually having little body hair. Cf. chickenhawk

5. chickennoun

   A young or inexperienced person.

6. chickennoun

   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 loser.

7. chickennoun

   The game of dare.

8. chickenverb

   To avoid as a result of fear.

9. chickenverb

   To develop physical or other characteristics resembling a chicken's, for example, bumps on the skin.

10. chickenadjective

    cowardly

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Chick, Chickenn. s.

   Etymology: cicen , Sax. kiecken, Dut

   1. The young of a bird, particularly of a hen, or small bird.

   All my pretty ones?
   What, all my pretty chickens, and their dam,
   At one fell swoop! William Shakespeare, Macbeth.

   For when the shell is broke, out comes a chick. Davies.

   While it is a chick, and hath no spurs, nor cannot hurt, nor yet hath seen the like motion, yet he readily practiseth it. Matthew Hale, Origin of Mankind.

   Ev’n since she was a se’n-night old, they say,
   Was chaste and humble to her dying day;
   Nor chick, nor hen, was known to disobey. John Dryden, Fables.

   Having the notion that one laid the egg out of which the other was hatched, I have a clear idea of the relation of dam and chick. John Locke.

   On rainy days alone I dine,
   Upon a chick and pint of wine:
   On rainy days I dine alone,
   And pick my chicken to the bone. Jonathan Swift, Miscellanies.

   2. A word of tenderness.

   My Ariel, chick,
   This is thy charge. William Shakespeare, Tempest.

   3. A term for a young girl.

   Then, Chloe, still go on to prate
   Of thirty-six and thirty-eight;
   Pursue your trade of scandal-picking,
   Your hints, that Stella is no chicken. Jonathan Swift.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Chickennoun

   a young bird or fowl, esp. a young barnyard fowl

2. Chickennoun

   a young person; a child; esp. a young woman; a maiden

3. Etymology: [AS. cicen, cyceun, dim. of coc cock; akin to LG. kiken, kken, D. Kieken, kuiken, G. kchkein. See Cock the animal.]

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Chicken

   The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird. Humans keep chickens primarily as a source of food, consuming both their meat and their eggs. The traditional poultry farming view of the domestication of the chicken is stated in Encyclopædia Britannica: "Humans first domesticated chickens of Indian origin for the purpose of cockfighting in Asia, Africa, and Europe. Very little formal attention was given to egg or meat production... " Recent genetic studies have pointed to multiple maternal origins in Southeast, East, and South Asia, but with the clade found in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa originating in the Indian subcontinent. From India the domesticated fowl made its way to the Persianized kingdom of Lydia in western Asia Minor, and domestic fowl were imported to Greece by the fifth century BC. Fowl had been known in Egypt since the 18th Dynasty, with the "bird that gives birth every day" having come to Egypt from the land between Syria and Shinar, Babylonia, according to the annals of Tutmose III.

Editors Contribution(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. chicken

   A type of animal.

   Chickens are beautiful animals, very clever and loving.

   
   

   Submitted by MaryC on December 20, 2019  

Suggested Resources(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. chicken

   Song lyrics by chicken -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by chicken on the Lyrics.com website.

Matched Categories

1. • Domestic Fowl
   • Poultry

British National Corpus

1. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'chicken' in Written Corpus Frequency: #1494

2. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'chicken' in Nouns Frequency: #1567

Anagrams for chicken »

1. check in

2. check-in

How to pronounce chicken?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say chicken in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of chicken in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of chicken in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8

Examples of chicken in a Sentence

1. Kevin Hochman:

   We don't see chicken as the big trend right now, but we are definitely looking at it in earnest and meeting with the big suppliers of alternative proteins to understand the market and where it's headed.

2. Paul Lavery:

   We got Paul Lavery five years ago and we just fell in love with him at first sight and brought him home. For us, we didnt know he knew any tricks, we tried teaching him to sit, lie down, roll over and he wasnt interested, when he was about two years old I sat a chicken toy on his head and he just sat there looking at it really still, Paul Lavery claimed.

3. Mario Ziervogel:

   You have to be flexible and keep up with the trends to have a successful business, earlier it was enough to have Bockwurst, Wiener or Knacker sausages. Now they are out of fashion. Then came Curry-Wurst with skin or skinless, then came chicken sausage. Then a customer came in and asked for a vegetarian sausage.

4. John Kostelnik:

   There is so much movement going on, everyone is running around like a chicken without their head.

5. David Anderson:

   Chicken nuggets, chicken strips, breaded chicken sandwiches, those just lend themselves to the breast.

Popularity rank by frequency of use