hen

[ hen ]

/ hɛn /

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noun

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

the female of any bird, especially a gallinaceous bird: The mallard drakes are splendidly colorful while the hens are camouflaged in drab plumage.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

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”; see also chant, charm¹

OTHER WORDS FROM hen

hen·like, adjectivehen·nish, adjective

Words nearby hen

hempseed, Hempstead, hemp tree, hempy, hemstitch, hen, Henan, hen-and-chickens, henbane, henbit, hence

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use hen in a sentence

That is not the case with egg-laying hens, which have been bred to put all their energy toward laying.
Why the US egg industry is still killing 300 million chicks a year|Tove K. Danovich|April 12, 2021|Vox
In chickens, the hen controls whether the resulting chick is male or female.
Why the US egg industry is still killing 300 million chicks a year|Tove K. Danovich|April 12, 2021|Vox
All the eggs produced by hens sexed with this technology are sold under the Respeggt brand, free from chick culling.
Why the US egg industry is still killing 300 million chicks a year|Tove K. Danovich|April 12, 2021|Vox
File this under, “Sure, I’ll watch your hens,” said the fox.
The Outré Art of Pegging|Eugene Robinson|December 14, 2020|Ozy

You can look at the number of hens laying eggs in this country.
What Happens When Everyone Stays Home to Eat? (Ep. 412)|Stephen J. Dubner|April 9, 2020|Freakonomics
He even claims that hen partridges conceive just by smelling the scent of males.
Why Aristotle Deserves A Posthumous Nobel|Nick Romeo|October 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“[W]hen the going got tough, his economic team picked Wall Street,” Warren said.
Warren and Christie Are the Anti-Hillarys|Sally Kohn|October 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He eventually brings his wife and children over, and later he manages a hen and rabbit farm.
Nothing Was Banal About Eichmann’s Evil, Says a Scathing New Biography|Michael Signer|October 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He described her then as “a mother hen who took care of everyone.”
Joni Ernst's Big Pivot: From Pig Castrator to Iowa Nice|Ben Jacobs|August 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“[W]hen a novelist finds an audience, even a small one … the relation is based on recognition, not misunderstanding,” he writes.
In Defense of Jonathan Franzen|Michelle Goldberg|September 26, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Out of the darkening sky rang the twanging call of a night-hawk, and the cluck of a dozing hen sounded from the foliage overhead.
The Soldier of the Valley|Nelson Lloyd
What can be prettier than a brood of chickens with a good motherly hen, like the one in this picture!
The Nursery, July 1873, Vol. XIV. No. 1|Various
“Well, Hen knows how to kill snakes, but maybe she is a poor judge of character,” laughed Amy.
The Campfire Girls of Roselawn|Margaret Penrose
The storm hath passed;I hear the birds rejoice; the hen,Returned into the road again,Her cheerful notes repeats.
The Poems of Giacomo Leopardi|Giacomo Leopardi
Their manner of talking has been compared to the clucking of a hen, and by the Dutch to the "gobbling of a turkeycock."
Man And His Ancestor|Charles Morris

British Dictionary definitions for hen

hen

/ (hɛn) /

noun

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

the female of certain other animals, such as the lobster

informal a woman regarded as gossipy or foolish

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

scarce as hen's teeth extremely rare

Word Origin for hen

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.