hen

American  

[hen] / hɛn /

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.

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hen British  

/ 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

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hen Idioms  

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

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Other Word Forms

• henlike adjective
• hennish adjective

Etymology

Origin of hen

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. )

Example Sentences

His ancestor, he said, scolded the British: "You found a port as prosperous as a fine hen -- you took its eggs, plucked its feathers and now you spit its bones back at us."

From Barron's • Feb. 1, 2026

“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.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 1, 2025

My steak was cooked perfectly and complemented by the numerous sides, which include hen of the woods mushrooms, Japanese sweet potato and hand-cut black truffle fries.

From Salon • Sep. 29, 2025

My best friend Claire got married recently and as a lifelong raver, had decided to hold her hen party in Ibiza.

From BBC • Sep. 14, 2025

It splashes into the middle of the pond, and the coot hen is startled into the reeds.

From "The Adoration of Jenna Fox" by Mary E. Pearson

Related Words

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