fowl

[ foul ]

/ faʊl /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR fowl ON THESAURUS.COM

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.

Nearby words

foveation, foveola, foveolate, foveole, 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 fowl

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for fowl

It is a multimillion-dollar business in which roughly 15 million fowl die a year.
The History of the Chicken: How This Humble Bird Saved Humanity|William O’Connor|December 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Like all fowl, turkeys tend to go quiet when held upside down.
Confessions of a Turkey Killer|Tom Sykes|November 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Both include oysters, crawfish, crab, shrimp, and fish from the Gulf of Mexico, and pork, fowl, and beef.
Secrets of Creole and Cajun Food|Mary Goodbody|February 17, 2010|DAILY BEAST
It is very much like the fowl in some respects but not at all like it in some others.
Our Domestic Birds|John H. Robinson

Mrs. Oleander sat before the blazing fire, plucking a fowl; Sally stood at the table, kneading dough.
The Unseen Bridgegroom|May Agnes Fleming
Provisions were to be had in great abundance; a fowl and basket of meal weighing 20 lbs.
Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa|David Livingstone
The best way to kill a fowl is to tie it by its legs, hang it up, and then cut off its neck.
Housekeeping in Old Virginia|Marion Cabell Tyree
She supped on broth, or the wing of a fowl, and biscuits which she steeped in water.
The Peasant and the Prince|Harriet Martineau

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.