chicken
- Top 3000
Sense 1
- noun
- A1
Meat that comes from a common farm bird, cooked in different ways and often eaten hot.
We had cold chicken and bread on the train home.
This soup tastes much better with a little chicken in it.
She marinated the chicken overnight in yoghurt and spices.
Common collocations: roast chicken · fried chicken · chicken breast · chicken soup · grilled chicken
Part of: Meat and fish, Cooking, Restaurants
Sense 2
- noun
- A1
A common farm bird kept for its eggs and its meat.
Our neighbours keep chickens and give us eggs every week.
A fox got into the shed and killed two chickens.
The chickens scratched in the dust and clucked all afternoon.
Common collocations: keep chickens · free-range chicken · a flock of chickens · chicken coop · feed the chickens
Part of: Meat and fish, Animals, The garden
Sense 3 · less common
- noun
- B2
A person who is too afraid to do something that other people think is not really dangerous.
Don't be such a chicken, the water is really not deep.
They called him a chicken because he refused to jump.
I was too much of a chicken to tell her the truth.
Common collocations: don't be a chicken · too much of a chicken · chicken out
Part of: Personality, Negative emotions, Talking to people
Forms
- plural
- chickens