fowl

American  

[foul] / faʊl /

noun

plural

fowls,

plural

fowl

1. the domestic or barnyard hen or rooster; chicken.

2. any of several other, usually gallinaceous, birds that are barnyard, domesticated, or wild, as the duck, turkey, or pheasant.

3. (in market and household use) a full-grown domestic fowl for food purposes, as distinguished from a chicken or young fowl.

4. the flesh or meat of a domestic fowl.

5. any bird (used chiefly in combination).

   waterfowl; wildfowl.

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verb (used without object)

1. to hunt or take wildfowl.

fowl British  

/ faʊl /

noun

1. See domestic fowl

2. any other bird, esp any gallinaceous bird, that is used as food or hunted as game See also waterfowl wildfowl

3. the flesh or meat of fowl, esp of chicken

4. an archaic word for any bird

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verb

1. (intr) to hunt or snare wildfowl

fowl Idioms  

1. see neither fish nor fowl.

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Etymology

Origin of fowl

First recorded before 900; Middle English foul, fuhel, Old English fugol, fugel; cognate with Old Saxon fugal, Gothic fugls, Old High German fogal ( German Vogel ), from Germanic fuglaz, a possible dissimilation of unattested fluglaz, from the same root as fly ² ( def. )

Explanation

The noun fowl usually means domesticated birds kept for eating or producing eggs. If your friend brings you eggs from the chickens she keeps in her back yard, you can say that she has pet fowl. Fowl comes from the Old English fugel, "bird," meant simply that — "bird." Today, fowl usually refers specifically to chickens or other kinds of domesticated birds that lay eggs or are raised to be eaten. Occasionally, fowl is used interchangeably with poultry, to mean the flesh of that same kind of bird when it's eaten; you could describe your family as being fond of pork, beef, and fowl.

Example Sentences

For Fowl and Fury, this is a very real problem, he said, because most consumers order online.

From BBC • Jan. 17, 2026

They are shortlisted for best animated feature for their latest outing, Vengeance Most Fowl.

From BBC • Mar. 1, 2025

More than 21 million people have now watched the villainous penguin's return in Aardman's Vengeance Most Fowl, which delighted audiences young and old when the animated film premiered on BBC One on Christmas Day.

From BBC • Jan. 26, 2025

Best Motion Picture – Animated "Flow" "Inside Out 2" "Memoir of a Snail" "Moana 2" "Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl" "The Wild Robot"

From Salon • Jan. 6, 2025

Fowl was the winner this time, but someone like him wouldn’t be able to rest on his laurels.

From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer

Related Words

• chicken
• goose
• hen
• pheasant