Mother Carey's chicken

[ kair-eez ]

/ ˈkɛər iz /

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See synonyms for Mother Carey's chicken on Thesaurus.com

noun

any of various small petrels, especially the stormy petrel, Oceanites oceanicus.

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Origin of Mother Carey's chicken

First recorded in 1760–70; origin uncertain

Words nearby Mother Carey's chicken

mothballs, moth bean, moth-eaten, mother, motherboard, Mother Carey's chicken, mother cell, mother church, Mother City, mother country, mother cyst

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use Mother Carey's chicken in a sentence

Taraji manages to bring an equal measure of truth to the mother in her character.
‘Empire’ Review: Hip-Hop Musical Chairs with an Insane Soap Opera Twist|Judnick Mayard|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Three on-the-record stories from a family: a mother and her daughters who came from Phoenix.
I Tried to Warn You About Sleazy Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in 2003|Vicky Ward|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
But my sources, my young women and their mother, heroically held firm.
I Tried to Warn You About Sleazy Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in 2003|Vicky Ward|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
I thought about the mother, her fear of the dark, of the harm she feared might come to her daughters.
I Tried to Warn You About Sleazy Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in 2003|Vicky Ward|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST

Meanwhile two kids were taken from their mother when she flew back to the UK from Turkey.
Britain May Spy on Preschoolers Searching for Potential Jihadis|Nico Hines|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Squinty could look out, but the slats were as close together as those in a chicken coop, and the little pig could not get out.
Squinty the Comical Pig|Richard Barnum
There was no doubt thought of his own loss in this question: yet there was, one may hope, a germ of solicitude for the mother too.
Children's Ways|James Sully
"The Smoker," and "Mother and Daughter," a triptych, are two of her principal pictures.
Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D.|Clara Erskine Clement
Now first we shall want our pupil to understand, speak, read and write the mother tongue well.
The Salvaging Of Civilisation|H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
The mother's lips could not finish the charge she was about to put upon her innocent child.
The Pastor's Fire-side Vol. 3 of 4|Jane Porter

British Dictionary definitions for Mother Carey's chicken

Mother Carey's chicken

/ (ˈkɛərɪz) /

noun

another name for storm petrel

Word Origin for Mother Carey's chicken

origin unknown

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