Houdan

American  

[hoo-dan] / ˈhu dæn /

noun

1. one of a French breed of chickens having a V -shaped comb, five toes, and mottled or black plumage.

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Houdan British  

/ ˈhuːdæn /

noun

1. a breed of light domestic fowl originally from France, with a distinctive full crest

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Etymology

Origin of Houdan

First recorded in 1870–75; after Houdan, village near Paris where these hens were bred

Example Sentences

The Houdan hen was never drawn into the cult of Sredni Vashtar.

From The Chronicles of Clovis by Saki

In the outskirts of the town,--and flanked, rather than surrounded, by two or three rows of trees, of scarcely three years growth--stands the "stiff and stower" remains of the Castle of Houdan.

From A Bibliographical, Antiquarian and Picturesque Tour in France and Germany, Volume One by Dibdin, Thomas Frognall

The approach, from Houdan, is perhaps not the most favourable; although we got peeps of the palace, which gave us rather elevated notions of its enormous extent.

From A Bibliographical, Antiquarian and Picturesque Tour in France and Germany, Volume One by Dibdin, Thomas Frognall

The six dead birds were Minorcas; the seventh was a Houdan with a mop of feathers all over its eyes. 

From Beasts and Super-Beasts by Saki

In one corner lived a ragged-plumaged Houdan hen, on which the boy lavished an affection that had scarcely another outlet.

From The Chronicles of Clovis by Saki