hen

[hen]

noun

1. a female chicken.

   Our hens only recently started laying, but these fresh eggs were worth the wait!

2. the female of any bird, especially a gallinaceous bird.

   The mallard drakes are splendidly colorful while the hens are camouflaged in drab plumage.

3. the female of certain marine creatures, including lobsters and salmon.

   I prefer a hen when making lobster bisque, as the dark red roe enhances both flavor and color.

4. Informal: Sometimes Offensive.,  a usually middle-aged or older woman, especially one who is considered to be petty or gossipy.

   Let’s get out of here and leave the hens to their blather.

5. Informal.,  a female in attendance at a hen party.

   The incident at the restaurant occurred hours after our party was over and we’d all gone home, but all of us hens were brought in for questioning the next morning.

6. British and Australian Informal.,  the bride-to-be at a bachelorette party.

   A toast to Vera, the beautiful hen, who’s flying our coop in less than a fortnight!

7. Scots Informal.,  an affectionate or familiar term of address to a girl or woman.

   That’s lovely, hen, thank you.

hen

/ hɛn /

noun

1. the female of any bird, esp the adult female of the domestic fowl

2. the female of certain other animals, such as the lobster

3. informal,  a woman regarded as gossipy or foolish

4. dialect,  a term of address (often affectionate), used to women and girls

5. extremely rare

Other Word Forms

• henlike adjective
• hennish adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of hen¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English hen(n) (compare Old English hana “cock”); cognate with German Henne; akin to Latin canere “to sing”; chant ( def. ), charm ¹ ( def. )

Word History and Origins

Origin of hen¹

Old English henn; related to Old High German henna, Old Frisian henne

Idioms and Phrases

see mad as a hornet (wet hen); scarce as hen's teeth.

Example Sentences

That Plinkst and the Swanburne Academy could coexist on the same planet seemed as unlikely as pigs taking flight, hens growing teeth, very hot places freezing over, and other such expressions of the impossible.

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“Well done, clever hens. Now turn, and shimmy, and shake your tails. Shake ’em all about!”

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Her 32,000-laying hens would normally be outdoors for most of the day.

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“Suddenly with a plop, the egg landed on the straw. With clucks of pleasure the hen shook her feathers, nudged the egg with her beak, and left,” Goodall wrote almost 60 years later.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

"We're trying to find an alternative ground in the local area but, speaking to Essex cricket, grounds are as rare as hen's teeth – it's very difficult to find one," Mr Carlton added.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• chicken 
• duck 
• fowl 
• geese 
• pheasant 
• pigeon