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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

chicken.

A domesticated subspecies of red junglefowl (Gallus gallus domesticus).

7 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈt͡ʃɪkɪn/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/ˈt͡ʃɪkən/Australia, General-American

  1. A domesticated subspecies of red junglefowl (Gallus gallus domesticus).

    countable
    backyard chickens
    barnyard chickens

  2. The meat from this bird eaten as food.

    uncountable
    boneless chicken
    tastes like chicken

  3. The young of any bird; a chick.

    countable · obsolete · uncountable

  4. A coward.

    countable · derogatory · slang · sometimes

  5. A young or inexperienced person.

    countable · derogatory · slang · sometimes

  6. A young, attractive, slim man, usually having little body hair; compare chickenhawk.

    Polari · countable

  7. The game of dare.

    uncountable

  8. The game of dare. 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).

    countable · uncountable
    Don't play chicken with a freight train; you're guaranteed to lose.

  9. A simple dance in which the movements of a chicken are imitated.

    countable · uncountable

  10. A kilogram of cocaine.

    US · countable · slang · uncountable

  11. A small pewter pot used in a tavern.

    countable · obsolete · uncountable
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *keukô Proto-Germanic *keukô Proto-Germanic *kukkaz Proto-Indo-European *-nós Proto-Indo-European *-iHnos Proto-Germanic *-īnaz Proto-West Germanic *kiukīn? Proto-Germanic *kukkīną? Old English ċicen Middle English chiken English 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”).

adj/ˈt͡ʃɪkɪn/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/ˈt͡ʃɪkən/Australia, General-American

  1. Cowardly.

    derogatory · informal · sometimes
    Why do you refuse to fight? Huh, I guess you're just too chicken.
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *keukô Proto-Germanic *keukô Proto-Germanic *kukkaz Proto-Indo-European *-nós Proto-Indo-European *-iHnos Proto-Germanic *-īnaz Proto-West Germanic *kiukīn? Proto-Germanic *kukkīną? Old English ċicen Middle English chiken English 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”).

verb/ˈt͡ʃɪkɪn/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/ˈt͡ʃɪkən/Australia, General-American

  1. To avoid a situation one is afraid of.

    intransitive
Where this word comes from

Shortening of chicken out.

noun/ˈt͡ʃɪkɪn/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/ˈt͡ʃɪkən/Australia, General-American

  1. plural of chick

    UK · dialectal · form-of · obsolete · plural
Where this word comes from

From chick + -en (plural ending).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.