hen

[ hen ]
See synonyms for hen on Thesaurus.com
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.

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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!

  5. Scots Informal. an affectionate or familiar term of address to a girl or woman: That’s lovely, hen, thank you.

Origin of hen

1
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”; see also chant, charm1

Other words from hen

  • hen·like, adjective
  • hen·nish, adjective

Words Nearby hen

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use hen in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for hen

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

  1. informal a woman regarded as gossipy or foolish

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

  3. scarce as hen's teeth extremely rare

Origin of hen

1
Old English henn; related to Old High German henna, Old Frisian henne

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with hen

hen

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

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.