fowl
[ foul ]
/ faʊl /
noun, plural fowls, (especially collectively) fowl.
the domestic or barnyard hen or rooster; chicken.Compare domestic fowl.
any of several other, usually gallinaceous, birds that are barnyard, domesticated, or wild, as the duck, turkey, or pheasant.
(in market and household use) a full-grown domestic fowl for food purposes, as distinguished from a chicken or young fowl.
the flesh or meat of a domestic fowl.
any bird (used chiefly in combination): waterfowl; wildfowl.
verb (used without object)
to hunt or take wildfowl.
RELATED CONTENT
Nearby words
foveola, foveolate, foveole, foveolet, fowey, fowl, fowl cholera, fowl mite, fowl paralysis, fowl pest, fowl pox
Origin of fowl
before 900; Middle English foul, Old English fugol, fugel; cognate with Old Saxon fugal, Gothic fugls, Old High German fogal (German Vogel)
Can be confused
foul fowlDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for fowl
British Dictionary definitions for fowl
fowl
/ (faʊl) /
noun
See domestic fowl
any other bird, esp any gallinaceous bird, that is used as food or hunted as gameSee also waterfowl, wildfowl
the flesh or meat of fowl, esp of chicken
an archaic word for any bird
verb
(intr) to hunt or snare wildfowl
Word Origin for fowl
Old English fugol; related to Old Frisian fugel, Old Norse fogl, Gothic fugls, Old High German fogal
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
Idioms and Phrases with fowl
fowl
see neither fish nor fowl.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.