fowl

American  

[foul] / faʊl /

noun

fowls, plural fowl plural

1. the domestic or barnyard hen or rooster; chicken.

2. any of several other, usually gallinaceous, birds that are barnyard, domesticated, or wild, as the duck, turkey, or pheasant.

3. (in market and household use) a full-grown domestic fowl for food purposes, as distinguished from a chicken or young fowl.

4. the flesh or meat of a domestic fowl.

5. any bird (used chiefly in combination).

   waterfowl; wildfowl.

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verb (used without object)

1. to hunt or take wildfowl.

fowl British  

/ faʊl /

noun

1. See domestic fowl

2. any other bird, esp any gallinaceous bird, that is used as food or hunted as game See also waterfowl wildfowl

3. the flesh or meat of fowl, esp of chicken

4. an archaic word for any bird

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verb

1. (intr) to hunt or snare wildfowl

fowl Idioms  

1. see neither fish nor fowl.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• fowl
  plural
• fowls
  plural

Etymology

Origin of fowl

First recorded before 900; Middle English foul, fuhel, Old English fugol, fugel; cognate with Old Saxon fugal, Gothic fugls, Old High German fogal ( German Vogel ), from Germanic fuglaz, a possible dissimilation of unattested fluglaz, from the same root as fly ² ( def. )

Explanation

The noun fowl usually means domesticated birds kept for eating or producing eggs. If your friend brings you eggs from the chickens she keeps in her back yard, you can say that she has pet fowl. Fowl comes from the Old English fugel, "bird," meant simply that — "bird." Today, fowl usually refers specifically to chickens or other kinds of domesticated birds that lay eggs or are raised to be eaten. Occasionally, fowl is used interchangeably with poultry, to mean the flesh of that same kind of bird when it's eaten; you could describe your family as being fond of pork, beef, and fowl.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fowl fowls

Gussalli Beretta describes himself as a keen Americanophile with a particular fondness for hunting U.S. fowl.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 21, 2026

Either way, consumer advocates and other experts note that many retailers will run promotions on the fowl favorite when the holiday approaches as a way to get shoppers in the door.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 14, 2025

Avian flu outbreaks date back centuries, when it was once known as "fowl plague," but this outbreak is unique.

From Salon ● Jan. 12, 2025

James showed the BBC the amulets, which were made of fowl feathers, animal skins and herbs, covered in leather and cloth.

From BBC ● Dec. 15, 2024

Captain Nips eased the coach between a seller of live fowl and a juggler tossing colored balls into the bright noonday air.

From "The Whipping Boy" by Sid Fleischman

However, some presidents, including Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy, spared a few fowls in their day.

From Fox News ● Nov. 25, 2019

Soon, agencies were introducing turkeys to areas they had never lived, driven by the desires of hunters hoping to stalk the tasty fowls.

From Washington Times ● Oct. 27, 2019

Today, starlings are viewed as the foulest of the fowls, but it wasn’t always this way.

From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2016

Another time, the group released a flock of turkeys dressed up like Milošević’s wife in a busy shopping district, leading the authorities to chase the fowls all over the neighborhood.

From Slate ● Mar. 31, 2014

He wrote, “Fishes and beasts and fowls of the air devour one another. But to man, Zeus has given justice. Beside Zeus on his throne Justice has her seat.”

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton

Related Words

• chicken
• goose
• hen
• pheasant