hen

American  

[hen] / hɛn /

noun

1. a female chicken.

   Our hens only recently started laying, but these fresh eggs were worth the wait!

2. the female of any bird, especially a gallinaceous bird.

   The mallard drakes are splendidly colorful while the hens are camouflaged in drab plumage.

3. the female of certain marine creatures, including lobsters and salmon.

   I prefer a hen when making lobster bisque, as the dark red roe enhances both flavor and color.

4. Informal: Sometimes Offensive. a usually middle-aged or older woman, especially one who is considered to be petty or gossipy.

   Let’s get out of here and leave the hens to their blather.

5. Informal. a female in attendance at a hen party.

   The incident at the restaurant occurred hours after our party was over and we’d all gone home, but all of us hens were brought in for questioning the next morning.

6. British and Australian Informal. the bride-to-be at a bachelorette party.

   A toast to Vera, the beautiful hen, who’s flying our coop in less than a fortnight!

7. Scots Informal. an affectionate or familiar term of address to a girl or woman.

   That’s lovely, hen, thank you.

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hen British  

/ hɛn /

noun

1. the female of any bird, esp the adult female of the domestic fowl

2. the female of certain other animals, such as the lobster

3. informal a woman regarded as gossipy or foolish

4. dialect a term of address (often affectionate), used to women and girls

5. extremely rare

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hen Idioms  

1. see mad as a hornet (wet hen); scarce as hen's teeth.

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Other Word Forms

• henlike
  adjective
• hennish
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of hen

First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English hen(n) (compare Old English hana “cock”); cognate with German Henne; akin to Latin canere “to sing”; see also chant ( def. ), charm ¹ ( def. )

Explanation

A hen is a female chicken. It's important to make sure your new backyard chickens are hens and not roosters — otherwise, those eggs you're looking forward to just aren't going to happen. You can use the word hen for the female of many birds, including turkeys, pheasants, and quail, as well as for a female lobster. In parts of Britain, a hen can also be a (slightly offensive) slang term for a woman, and if something's described as being "rare as hen's teeth," it's extremely precious or scarce.

Example Sentences

He sent the book out to the “Big Five” publishing companies and was rejected, eventually deciding to publish it with the Pasadena small press Red Hen after they expressed fervent interest in acquiring it.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2026

Kate Gale, co-founder and managing editor of Red Hen, says Goebel’s agent sent her the book, but when he decided to go elsewhere she kept after him.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2026

Chickens and hens are incredibly resilient and should typically cope well with a bit of cold weather, the British Hen Welfare Trust says.

From BBC • Jan. 2, 2026

Others—including StopAntisemitism, Hen Mazzig, and Yoseph Haddad, echoed the claim to millions more.

From Slate • May 30, 2025

Hen Wen told me this secret in the forest.

From "The Book of Three" by Lloyd Alexander

Related Words

• chicken
• duck
• fowl
• geese
• pheasant
• pigeon