- chicken
- [[t]tʃɪ̱kɪn[/t]]
♦♦♦chickens, chickening, chickened1) N-COUNT 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 fresh eggs.
...free-range chickens.
Syn:N-UNCOUNTChicken is the flesh of this bird eaten as food....roast chicken with wild mushrooms. ...chicken soup.
2) N-COUNT (disapproval) If someone calls you a chicken, they mean that you are afraid to do something. [INFORMAL]I'm scared of the dark. I'm a big chicken.
Syn:ADJ-GRADED: v-link ADJChicken is also an adjective.Why are you so chicken, Gregory?
3) PHRASE: V inflects If you say that someone is counting their chickens, you mean that they are assuming that they will be successful or get something, when this is not certain.I don't want to count my chickens before they are hatched.
4) PHRASE: PHR n 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.It's a chicken and egg situation. Does the deficiency lead to the eczema or has the eczema led to certain deficiencies?
5) PHRASE: V and N inflect 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. [mainly BRIT]Instead of running round like a headless chicken use your efforts in a more productive way.
Phrasal Verbs:
English dictionary. 2008.