chicken

I UK [ˈtʃɪkɪn] / US [ˈtʃɪkən] noun
Word forms "chicken":
singular chicken plural chickens
**

1)

a) [countable] a bird kept for its eggs and meat. The sound it makes is called clucking. The female chicken is called a hen and the male is called a cock or a rooster. A baby chicken is called a chick.

b) [uncountable] the meat of a chicken

fried/roast/grilled chicken

a chicken leg

2) [countable] informal someone who is not brave enough to do something

3)

a) [uncountable] a game played especially by children in which the winner is the person who continues doing something dangerous the longest

play chicken:

The kids were playing chicken on the railway track when the accident happened.

b) a situation in which two groups or countries threaten each other until one gives the other what they want

game of chicken:

The affair degenerated into the longest game of chicken in diplomatic history.

•

- chickens come home to roost

See:

chicken-and-egg, count I

II UK [ˈtʃɪkɪn] / US [ˈtʃɪkən] adjective [never before noun] informal

not brave enough to do something

I was terrified, but I didn't want the others to think I was chicken.

III UK [ˈtʃɪkɪn] / US [ˈtʃɪkən] verb

Phrasal verbs:

- chicken out