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chicken wire

American

noun

a light, wire netting having a large, hexagonal mesh, used especially as fencing.

chicken wire British

noun

wire netting with a hexagonal mesh

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of chicken wire

An Americanism dating back to 1915–20

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“The industry was created 60 or 70 years ago with chicken wire and cinder blocks,” he says.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 15, 2026

Graphene is made of a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal pattern that looks like chicken wire.

From Science Daily • Nov. 8, 2025

By all accounts, visiting the site from inside the chicken wire is a crimped and diminished experience.

From Slate • Jul. 30, 2025

An MP said his skin cancer was discovered after he accidentally cut himself on chicken wire fencing.

From BBC • Feb. 5, 2025

We dug a narrow trench to bury the chicken wire.

From "The Season of Styx Malone" by Kekla Magoon

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023