释义 |
noun | adjective | verb chickenchicken1 /ˈtʃɪkən/ ●●● S1 W2 noun ETYMOLOGYchicken1Origin: Old English cicen young chicken 1 BIRD [countable] a common farm bird that is kept for its meat and eggs: We raise our own chickens. → see also hen, rooster2MEAT [uncountable] the meat from this bird, eaten as food: fried chicken Boy, that chicken smells good.3NO COURAGE [countable] informal someone who is not brave at all SYN coward: I’m such a chicken when it comes to skiing.4GAME [uncountable] a game in which someone, especially a young person, must do something dangerous to show that he or she is brave5a chicken and egg situation/problem/thing etc. a situation in which it is impossible to decide which of two things happened first, or which action is the cause of the other: That leaves the company in a chicken and egg dilemma.6somebody’s chickens have come home to roost used to say that someone’s bad or dishonest actions in the past have caused the problems that he or she has now7Which came first, the chicken or the egg? used to say that it is difficult or impossible to decide which of two things happened first, or which action is the cause and which is the effect[Origin: Old English cicen young chicken] → see also don’t count your chickens (before they’ve hatched) at count1 (12), spring chicken noun | adjective | verb chickenchicken2 adjective [not before noun] informal not brave enough to do something: Dave’s too chicken to ask her out. noun | adjective | verb chickenchicken3 verb VERB TABLEchicken |
Present | I, you, we, they | chicken | | he, she, it | chickens | Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | chickened | Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have chickened | | he, she, it | has chickened | Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had chickened | Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will chicken | Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have chickened |
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Present | I | am chickening | | he, she, it | is chickening | | you, we, they | are chickening | Past | I, he, she, it | was chickening | | you, we, they | were chickening | Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been chickening | | he, she, it | has been chickening | Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been chickening | Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be chickening | Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been chickening |
chicken out phrasal verb informal to decide at the last moment not to do something, because you are afraid: Margaret chickened out of starting her own business. |