chicken-livered
Americanadjective
Etymology
Origin of chicken-livered
An Americanism dating back to 1870–75
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.
Rainie said, “He’s chicken-livered, that’s what it is.”
From "Where the Red Fern Grows" by Wilson Rawls
He's a nervous, chicken-livered kind of man; and when I look at him he turns the colour of putty.
From The Stark Munro Letters by Doyle, Arthur Conan, Sir
The stranger muttered something about a chicken-livered population, and strolled out.
From Taking Chances by Cullen, Clarence L.
Or are you afraid—afraid even yet, oh, very chicken-livered lover—that behind the beauty of Naples you may find the filth?
From The History of Sir Richard Calmady A Romance by Malet, Lucas
"The pair of you are too chicken-livered for us."
From The Young Engineers in Arizona Laying Tracks on the Man-killer Quicksand by Hancock, H. Irving (Harrie Irving)
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.
