(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
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 ~s and have a supply of fresh eggs.
...free-range ~s.
= hen
N-COUNT
•
Chicken is the flesh of this bird eaten as food.
...roast ~ with wild mushrooms.
...~ soup.
N-UNCOUNT
2.
If someone calls you a ~, they mean that you are afraid to do something. (INFORMAL)
I’m scared of the dark. I’m a big ~.
= coward
N-COUNT disapproval
•
Chicken is also an adjective.
Why are you so ~, Gregory?
ADJ: v-link ADJ
3.
If you say that someone is counting their ~s, 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 ~s before they are hatched.
PHRASE: V inflects
4.
If you describe a situation as a ~ and egg situation, you mean that it is impossible to decide which of two things caused the other one.
It’s a ~ and egg situation. Does the deficiency lead to the eczema or has the eczema led to certain deficiencies?
PHRASE: PHR n
5.
~s come home to roost: see roost