chicken

Syllables: chick·en/ˈt͡ʃɪkɪn//ˈt͡ʃɪkən/

chicken noun: a domesticated subspecies of red junglefowl (Gallus gallus domesticus). Also the plural of chick.

Image: Kruppert, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

chicken (countable and uncountable, plural chickens)

(countable) A domesticated subspecies of red junglefowl (Gallus gallus domesticus).
- backyard chickens
- barnyard chickens
(uncountable) The meat from this bird eaten as food.
- boneless chicken
- tastes like chicken
(obsolete) The young of any bird; a chick.
- There they are – four ugly little chickens, a bit more than half-feathered, and all gaping mouths and bare bellies.1934, Henry G. Lamond, An Aviary on the Plains, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 220
(countable, derogatory, slang, sometimes) A coward.
- 'Why, what a chicken you are! You are not afraid of being robbed; are you?' said Jonas.1842 December – 1844 July, Charles Dickens, chapter 28, in The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1844, →OCLC
- Then he had an inspiration. "There is Roxton," said he. "He's not a chicken, but he is a useful man in a row. I think I could get him."1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019
Synonyms:

pullet, bottler, caitiff, candy-ass, candy-arse, coistril, coward, chicken liver, chickenshit, cocktail
(countable, derogatory, slang, sometimes) A young or inexperienced person.
- Purſue your trade of ſcandal-picking,
  Your hints, that Stella is no chicken:
  Your innuendos, when you tell us,
  That Stella loves to talk with fellows; […]1752, Jonathan Swift, “Stella's Birth-day, 1720”, in The Works of D. Jonathan Swift. In Nine Volumes. The Seventh Edition, to which is Prefixed, the Doctor's Life, with Remarks on His Writings, from...
- "This case will make a stir, sir," he remarked. "It beats anything I have seen, and I am no chicken."1886, Arthur Conan Doyle, “The Lauriston Garden Mystery”, in A Study in Scarlet (Beeton's Christmas Annual; 28th season), London; New York, N.Y.: Ward Lock & Co., November 1887, OCLC 15800088...
Synonyms:

spring chicken
(Polari, countable) A young, attractive, slim man, usually having little body hair; compare chickenhawk.
- Europe's Favorite Gay Newspaper has something for you! Handsome studs, Tender Chicken, and lots of Male Nudes!1976 April 10, “Classified advertisement”, in Gay Community News, page 19
- I am a little white chicken, beautiful as sweet and young as beautiful and soft as young and gay as soft and innocent as gay. I dare you to write.1991 December 1, Ronald Smith, “Personal advertisement”, in Gay Community News, volume 19, number 20, page 14
Synonyms:

twink
(uncountable) The game of dare.

Synonyms:

game of chicken
1. 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" (that is, the loser).
  - Don't play chicken with a freight train; you're guaranteed to lose.
  - The Mini surged forward too. The cars were hurtling towards each other across the pitch. This was a dangerous game of chicken. Who would crumble first?2017, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Bad Dad, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN
(preceded by definite article) A simple dance in which the movements of a chicken are imitated.
(US, slang) A kilogram of cocaine.
- Up early in the morning trappin' (Trap-trap)
  You can get 'em how you askin' (Ask)
  How many chickens? You can get 'em whichever way
  Nigga, trap turned Zaxby's (Zax)2017 January 3, Migos, “Call Casting”, in Culture, Track 3
Synonyms:

bird, brick
(obsolete) A small pewter pot used in a tavern.

Adjective

chicken (comparative more chicken, superlative most chicken)

(derogatory, informal, sometimes) Cowardly.
- Why do you refuse to fight? Huh, I guess you're just too chicken.
Synonyms:

backboneless, base, soft, bitch-ass, boneless, caitiff, candy-assed, chicken-hearted, chicken-livered, chickenshit

Verb

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.
- For the umpteenth time, I chickened.1964, Max Shulman, Anyone Got a Match?, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Row, →OCLC, page 31
- ABE: What are you chucking it for, then? You're running, aren't you? Running, cos you chickened.
  SLIM: All right, so I chickened.1968, Aidan Chambers, The Chicken Run: A Play for Young People, Oxford: Heinemann Educational Publishers, →ISBN, act II, scene v, page 81

Proper noun capitalized: Chicken

Chicken

A census-designated place in Alaska.

Also used as

chicken is also the plural of chick.

chicken meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

chicken in Hindi

bird: मुर्ग़ा murġā, मुरगा murgā, मुर्ग़ murġ, कुक्कुट kukkuṭ

chicken in Tamil

bird: கோழி kōḻi
meat: கோழியிறைச்சி kōḻiyiṟaicci, சிக்கன் cikkaṉ

chicken in Marathi

bird: कोंबडा kombḍā, कोंबडी kombḍī
meat: कोंबडी kombḍī, चिकन cikan

chicken in Urdu

bird: مرغا murġā

More languagesFewer languages

chicken in Bengali: মুরগি murgi, মুরগী murgi, মুর্গি murgi, মুর্গী murgi
chicken in Telugu: కోడి kōḍi, కోడిమాంసం kōḍimāṁsaṁ
chicken in Malayalam: കോഴി kōḻi, കോഴിയിറച്ചി kōḻiyiṟacci
chicken in Kannada: ಕೋಳಿ kōḷi, ಕೋಳಿಮಾಂಸ kōḷimāṃsa
chicken in Gujarati: કૂકડો kūkḍo, મરઘો margho
chicken in Sanskrit: कुक्कुट kukkuṭa
chicken in Assamese: কুকুৰা kukura
chicken in Nepali: कुखुरा Kukhurā
chicken in Pashto: چرګ čarg
chicken in Tagalog: manok
chicken in Arabic: دَجَاجَة dajāja, فرخة farḵa, دياي, دجاجة dujāja
chicken in Malay: ayam, manuk, pengecut
chicken in Indonesian: ayam, manuk, pengecut, penakut
chicken in Persian: مرغ خانگی morġ-e xânegi, ماک mâk, مرغ morġ, جوجه juje
chicken in Thai: ไก่ gài
chicken in Vietnamese: gà
chicken in Myanmar: ကြက် krak, ကြက်သား kraksa:
Dhivehi: ކުކުޅު kukuḷu
Dzongkha: བྱམོ byamo

Examples of chicken in a sentence

Some chickens lay eggs almost every day. […] Chickens are kept for their meat, too.1997, Beverley Randell, Clive Harper, Chickens, Nelson Thornes, →ISBN, page 8:
Before cooking chicken, or other poultry, rinse with cold water and pat dry with a paper towel.1995, Jean Paré, Chicken, Etc., Company's Coming Publishing Limited, →ISBN, page 7:
I went home and berated myself for being such a chicken.2008, Lanakila Michael Achong, Haole Boy: The Adoption of Diversity, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 44:

All 40 example sentences with chicken

Synonyms of chicken

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of chicken

Forms of chicken

Noun
plural	chickens
Adjective
comparative	more chicken
superlative	most chicken
Verb
third-person singular present	chickens
present participle	chickening
past participle	chickened
past	chickened

Plural of chicken: chickens

Origin of chicken

From Middle English chiken (also as chike > English chick), from Old English ċicen, ċycen (“chicken”), of uncertain origin. Possibly from Proto-West Germanic *kiukīn (“chicken”), or alternatively from Proto-West Germanic *kukkīn, equivalent to cock + -en. Compare North Frisian schückling (“chicken”), Saterland Frisian Sjuuken (“chicken”), Dutch kuiken (“chick, chicken”), German Low German Küken (“chick”), whence German Küken (“chick”), (elevated, obsolete) German Küchlein (“chick”) and Old Norse kjúklingr (“chicken”).

Shortening of chicken out.

From chick + -en (plural ending).

Words formed from chicken

Phrases with chicken

148 more phrasesFewer phrases

Questions about chicken

What does chicken mean?: Chicken means a domesticated subspecies of red junglefowl (Gallus gallus domesticus).
What is chicken in Hindi?: Chicken in Hindi is मुर्ग़ा (murġā), मुरगा (murgā), मुर्ग़ (murġ). See Chicken meaning in Hindi.
How do you use chicken in a sentence?: Some chickens lay eggs almost every day. […] Chickens are kept for their meat, too.
What part of speech is chicken?: Chicken can be a noun, an adjective, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce chicken?: Chicken is pronounced /ˈt͡ʃɪkɪn/ (UK).
What is the plural of chicken?: The plural of chicken is chickens.

Words near chicken in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: chicken (page history and authors); Chicken (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-uk-chicken.ogg, en-us-chicken.ogg.

Cite this entry: “chicken.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/chicken. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.