(often initial capital letter) a chicken of any of several varieties or breeds characterized by very small size.
a small and feisty or quarrelsome person.
any of various very small breeds of domestic fowl
a small but aggressive person
boxing short for bantamweight
an age level of between 13 and 15 in amateur sport, esp ice hockey
( as modifier )
bantam hockey
1740–50; apparently after Bantam, through which such chickens may have been imported to Europe
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
His bantam squads were among the best in the country and seven of his players were invited to USA Hockey’s prestigious National Team Development Program Evaluation Camps.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
In March 2023, the bantam hen from Michigan was crowned the world's oldest living chicken by Guinness World Records.
From DOGO News ● Sep. 19, 2023
Murphy, who coached Oshie at the squirt, pewee and bantam levels, remains close with Oshie.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 20, 2021
A bantam alpha, gut sucked into his chest, shoulders padded out like a linebacker, hair center-parted and pomaded back; the little creep who makes nothing but takes a fee on it anyway.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2020
He looked back and saw the old man and the bantam policeman grappling beneath the department store clock.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
Following its own precedent from the 1960s, Bantam Books v.
From Salon ● Jun. 24, 2025
Take the vertical loop to the top of the hill and stop at Trebek Open Space or Bantam Trailhead for sweeping views of Hollywood and beyond.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 7, 2025
Their progress will be documented on Radio Leeds, with the Bantam of the Opera available on BBC Sounds from April.
From BBC ● Jan. 20, 2025
Rubin joined Bantam Books, a venerable paperback publisher, in the mid-1980s, and remained there for six years before leaving for Doubleday.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 14, 2023
I also told him that the variety of corn we were eating was called Golden Bantam.
From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
