The chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird. Humans keep chickens primarily as a source of food, consuming both their meat and their eggs.

Noun

chicken (countable and uncountable; plural chickens)

1. (countable) A domestic fowl, Gallus gallus, especially when young
2. (uncountable) The meat from this bird eaten as food.
3. (countable, slang) A coward.
4. (countable, gay slang) A young, attractive, slim man, usually having little body hair. Cf. chickenhawk
5. (countable, slang) A young or inexperienced person.
   • 1887, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet, III:

     "This case will make a stir, sir," he remarked. "It beats anything I have seen, and I am no chicken."

6. 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 loser.
7. The game of dare.

Synonyms

• (bird): cock (male only), chook (Australia, NZ), hen (female only), rooster (male only)
• (coward):
• (young, attractive, slim man): twink
• (young inexperience person): spring chicken
• See also Wikisaurus:coward

Chickens are a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird. Humans keep chickens primarily as a source of food, consuming both their meat and their eggs.