1. chicken(n = noun.food) poulet, volaille - the flesh of a chicken used for food;
is a kind of poultry
is a part of chicken, gallus gallus
has parts: breast, white meat, chicken wing
has particulars: broiler, capon, frier, fryer, pullet, roaster, spatchcock, hen
2. chicken(n = noun.animal) gallus gallus - a domestic fowl bred for flesh or eggs; believed to have been developed from the red jungle fowl;
is a kind of domestic fowl, fowl, poultry
has parts: chicken, poulet, volaille
has particulars: biddy, chick, cock, rooster, capon, biddy, hen, spring chicken, rhode island red, dominick, dominique, orpington
3. chicken(n = noun.person) crybaby, wimp - a person who lacks confidence, is irresolute and wishy-washy;
is a kind of doormat, weakling, wuss
Derived form adjective chicken1
4. chicken(n = noun.event) - a foolhardy competition; a dangerous activity that is continued until one competitor becomes afraid and stops;
is a kind of competition, contest
chicken(s = adj.all) chickenhearted, lily-livered, white-livered, yellow, yellow-bellied - easily frightened;
Derived form noun chicken3
1. A young bird or fowl, esp. a young barnyard fowl. [1913 Webster]
2. A young person; a child; esp. a young woman; a maiden; same as
chicken, n., adj., & v.
--n. (pl. same or chickens)
1 a young bird of a domestic fowl.
2 a a domestic fowl prepared as food. b its flesh.
3 a youthful person (usu.with neg. : is no chicken).
4 colloq. a children's pastime testing courage, usu. recklessly.
--adj. colloq. cowardly.
--v.intr. (foll. by out) colloq. withdraw from or fail in some activity through fear or lack of nerve.
Idiom:
chicken-and-egg problem (or dilemma etc.) the unresolved question as to which of two things caused the other. chicken brick an earthenware container in two halves for roasting a chicken in its own juices. chicken cholera see CHOLERA. chicken-feed
1 food for poultry.
2 colloq. an unimportant amount, esp. of money. chicken-hearted (or -livered) easily frightened; lacking nerve or courage. chicken-wire a light wire netting with a hexagonal mesh.
Etymology:
OE cicen, cycen f. Gmc
N infant, babe, baby, babe in arms, nurseling, suckling, yearling, weanling, papoose, bambino, kid, vagitus, child, bairn, little one, brat, chit, pickaninny, urchin, bantling, bratling, elf, youth, boy, lad, stripling, youngster, youngun, younker, callant, whipster, whippersnapper, whiffet, schoolboy, hobbledehoy, hopeful, cadet, minor, master, scion, sap, seedling, tendril, olive branch, nestling, chicken, larva, chrysalis, tadpole, whelp, cub, pullet, fry, callow, codlin, codling, foetus, calf, colt, pup, foal, kitten, lamb, lambkin, aurelia, caterpillar, cocoon, nymph, nympha, orphan, pupa, staddle, girl, lass, lassie, wench, miss, damsel, demoiselle, maid, maiden, virgin, hoyden, infantine, infantile, puerile, boyish, girlish, childish, babyish, kittenish, baby, newborn, unfledged, new-fledged, callow, in the cradle, in swaddling clothes, in long clothes, in arms, in leading strings, at the breast, in one's teens.
N animal, animal kingdom, fauna, brute creation, beast, brute, creature, critter, wight, created being, creeping thing, living thing, dumb animal, dumb creature, zoophyte, mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian, fish, crustacean, shellfish, mollusk, worm, insect, arthropod, microbe, microbe, animalcule, alligator, crocodile, saurian, dinosaur (extinct), snake, serpent, viper, eft, asp, aspick, frog, toad, trout, bass, tuna, muskelunge, sailfish, sardine, mackerel, ant, mosquito, bee, honeybee, tardigrade, spider, biped, quadruped, webfoot, flocks and herds, live stock, domestic animals, wild animals, game, ferae naturae, beasts of the field, fowls of the air, denizens of the sea, black game, black grouse, blackcock, duck, grouse, plover, rail, snipe, horse, cattle, kine, ox, bull, bullock, cow, milch cow, calf, heifer, shorthorn, sheep, lamb, lambkin, ewe, ram, tup, pig, swine, boar, hog, sow, steer, stot, tag, teg, bison, buffalo, yak, zebu, dog, cat, dog, hound, pup, puppy, whelp, cur, mongrel, house dog, watch dog, sheep dog, shepherd's dog, sporting dog, fancy dog, lap dog, toy dog, bull dog, badger dog, mastiff, blood hound, grey hound, stag hound, deer hound, fox hound, otter hound, harrier, beagle, spaniel, pointer, setter, retriever, Newfoundland, water dog, water spaniel, pug, poodle, turnspit, terrier, fox terrier, Skye terrier, Dandie Dinmont, collie, feline, puss, pussy, grimalkin, gib cat, tom cat, fox, Reynard, vixen, stag, deer, hart, buck, doe, roe, caribou, coyote, elk, moose, musk ox, sambar, bird, poultry, fowl, cock, hen, chicken, chanticleer, partlet, rooster, dunghill cock, barn door fowl, feathered tribes, feathered songster, singing bird, dicky bird, canary, warbler, finch, aberdevine, cushat, cygnet, ringdove, siskin, swan, wood pigeon, vermin, varmint, pest, animal, zoological equine, bovine, vaccine, canine, feline, fishy, piscatory, piscatorial, molluscous, vermicular, gallinaceous, rasorial, solidungulate, soliped.
chicken and rice, chicken breast, chicken broth, chicken cacciatora, chicken cacciatore, chicken casserole, chicken coop, chicken cordon bleu, chicken drumstick, chicken farm, chicken feed, chicken hawk, chicken kiev, chicken leg, chicken little, chicken liver, chicken louse, chicken manure, chicken marengo, chicken mousse, chicken out, chicken paprika, chicken paprikash, chicken pox, chicken purloo, chicken roundworm, chicken run, chicken salad, chicken sandwich, chicken scratch, chicken snake, chicken soup, chicken stew, chicken stock, chicken taco, chicken tetrazzini, chicken wing, chicken wire, chicken yard, greater prairie chicken, hunter's chicken, lesser prairie chicken, maryland chicken, mother carey's chicken, pharaoh's chicken, prairie chicken, spring chicken, water chicken