chicken

Etymology 1

From Middle English chiken (also as chike > English chick), from Old English ċicen, ċycen (“chicken”), of uncertain origin. Possibly from Proto-West Germanic *kiukīn (“chicken”), or alternatively from Proto-West Germanic *kukkīn, equivalent to cock + -en. Compare North Frisian schückling (“chicken”), Saterland Frisian Sjuuken (“chicken”), Dutch kuiken (“chick, chicken”), German Low German Küken (“chick”), whence German Küken (“chick”), (elevated, obsolete) German Küchlein (“chick”) and Old Norse kjúklingr (“chicken”).

noun

1. (countable) A domesticated species of junglefowl (usually, Gallus gallus; sometimes, Gallus gallus domesticus or Gallus domesticus), especially so-called when young.
   Some chickens lay eggs almost every day. […] Chickens are kept for their meat, too. 1997, Beverley Randell, Clive Harper, Chickens, Nelson Thornes, page 8
2. (uncountable) The meat from this bird eaten as food.
   Amongst thee more harmless reptiles to be found were several lizards and iguanas. The natives killed these and used them for food. The flesh was not despised by explorers, and I was told it tasted exactly like chicken; but, however good it might have been, my courage was not suffcient to enable me to overcome my prejudice against tasting it. 1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 97
   Before cooking chicken, or other poultry, rinse with cold water and pat dry with a paper towel. 1995, Jean Paré, Chicken, Etc., Company's Coming Publishing Limited, page 7
3. (archaic) The young of any bird; a chick.
   There they are – four ugly little chickens, a bit more than half-feathered, and all gaping mouths and bare bellies. 1934, Henry G. Lamond, An Aviary on the Plains, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 220
4. (countable, slang) A coward.
   Usually, I had no problem approaching girls, but this one was different. I went home and berated myself for being such a chicken. 2008, Lanakila Michael Achong, Haole Boy: The Adoption of Diversity, iUniverse, page 44
   (More commonly used as an adjective with this sense; see below.)
5. (countable, slang) A young or inexperienced person.
   Purſue your trade of ſcandal-picking, Your hints, that Stella is no chicken: Your innuendos, when you tell us, That Stella loves to talk with fellows; […] 1752, Jonathan Swift, “Stella's Birth-day, 1720”, in The Works of D. Jonathan Swift. In Nine Volumes. The Seventh Edition, to which is Prefixed, the Doctor's Life, with Remarks on His Writings, from the Earl of Orrery and Others, not to be Found in any Former Edition of His Works, 7th edition, volume II (Containing His Poetical Writings), Dublin, Edinburgh: printed; and … reprinted, for G. Hamilton & J. Balfour, & L. Hunter at Edinburgh; and A. Stalker, at Glasgow; and sold by them and other booksellers, →OCLC, page 99
   "This case will make a stir, sir," he remarked. "It beats anything I have seen, and I am no chicken." 1886, Arthur Conan Doyle, “The Lauriston Garden Mystery”, in A Study in Scarlet (Beeton's Christmas Annual; 28th season), London; New York, N.Y.: Ward Lock & Co., November 1887, OCLC 15800088; republished as A Study in Scarlet. A Detective Story, new edition, London: Ward, Lock, Bowden, and Co., 1892, OCLC 23246292, page 43
6. (countable, Polari) A young, attractive, slim man, usually having little body hair; compare chickenhawk.
7. The game of dare.
   1. 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 chicken (that is, the loser).
      Don't play chicken with a freight train; you're guaranteed to lose.
8. A simple dance in which the movements of a chicken are imitated.
9. (slang, US) A kilogram of cocaine.
   Up early in the morning trappin' (Trap-trap) You can get 'em how you askin' (Ask) How many chickens? You can get 'em whichever way Nigga, trap turned Zaxby's (Zax) 2017-01-03, Migos (lyrics and music), “Call Casting”, in Culture, Track 3
   2019-05-20, The Norf ft. Rucci, 2Eleven, Ackrite, Nfant, Lil Deuce (lyrics and music), “15 Chickens”:

adj

1. (informal) Cowardly.
   Why do you refuse to fight? Huh, I guess you're just too chicken.

Etymology 2

Shortening of chicken out.

verb

1. (intransitive) To avoid a situation one is afraid of.
   For the umpteenth time, I chickened. 1964, Max Shulman, Anyone Got a Match?, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Row, →OCLC, page 31
   ABE: What are you chucking it for, then? You're running, aren't you? Running, cos you chickened. SLIM: All right, so I chickened. 1968, Aidan Chambers, The Chicken Run: A Play for Young People, Oxford: Heinemann Educational Publishers, act II, scene v, page 81
   To reach the lower branches of the blackwood one had to swing Tarzan-like across a narrow gully choked with gorse and blackberries. […] [T]he challenge of the rope swing was definitely more in James' line. […] Even if he slipped and failed, or worse, chickened, they would be unlikely to judge too harshly. 2014, Anne M. Brown, “James Day”, in Belonging: The Story of How James Became a Brown, Acacia Ridge, Qld.: Australian eBook Publisher

Etymology 3

From chick + -en (plural ending).

noun

1. (UK dialectal or obsolete) plural of chick
   The 21 or 22 day the Chicken are hatch'd; […] 1669, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London