chick
Americannoun
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chicks
plural
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a young chicken or other bird.
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a child.
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Slang: Often Offensive. a term used to refer to a girl or young woman.
noun
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the young of a bird, esp of a domestic fowl
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slang a girl or young woman, esp an attractive one
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a young child: used as a term of endearment
Sensitive Note
As a term used to refer to a young woman, chick is slightly dated. Originally it was perceived as insulting because of the perception that it infantilized women. Now the word has been embraced by some women as a positive term of self-reference and an expression of camaraderie. When used as a modifier, as in chick flick and chick lit, its meaning is not restricted to young women and its use is not offensive.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of chick
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English chike, variant of chiken; see origin at chicken
Explanation
A chick is a baby bird, especially a just-hatched chicken. Chicks are small, yellow, and fluffy. Chick can describe most young birds, from an eagle chick to a flamingo chick, or be used more generally: "Dogs aren't allowed on the beach because of the nesting seabirds and their chicks." What most people picture when they think of a chick, though, is a newly hatched chicken, and in fact the word is a 14th century shortened form of chicken. It's also long been an informal, slightly offensive term for a young woman.
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.
See Examples For:
Miss enough feedings and a vulnerable chick can perish.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
Adult vultures usually reach sexual maturity between the ages of five and seven, and produce only one chick every year or two.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
The charity's reserve's officer Paul Waterhouse explained the new pair, Blue 717 and her mate Blue 476, had only fledged one chick last year, which was normal among less-experienced ospreys.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
Even with trials, like a harrowing storm that claimed the life of a chick last year, it did the trick.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2026
With no more thought than a chick leaving its shell, he stepped off the porch.
From "The Bluest Eye" by Toni Morrison
The two broods of five chicks appeared in nest boxes that had been installed at different sites, after more than a decade of work with landowners.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
Resistance at first was fierce, since the idea had never been tried and putting puffin chicks at risk seemed antithetical to the Audubon Society’s creed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
Barn owls have had a bumper summer in County Fermanagh, with 10 chicks recorded across two sites.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
The chicks have had small identification rings placed round their legs so that they can be traced when they are spotted again.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
He made the mistake of crouching and pretending to stalk one of the chicks.
From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen
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.
