pigeon breast

American  

noun

Pathology.

1. chicken breast.

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pigeon breast British  

noun

1. Also called: chicken breast.  a deformity of the chest characterized by an abnormal protrusion of the breastbone, caused by rickets or by obstructed breathing during infancy

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Other Word Forms

• pigeon-breasted adjective
• pigeon-breastedness noun

Etymology

Origin of pigeon breast

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

“I always do everything first,” Alva boasted, sounding like an over-caffeinated Edith Wharton grande dame, thumping her pigeon breast.

From Washington Post • Sep. 23, 2021

The entrepreneur worked up gourmet recipes for the committee to taste — smoked pigeon breast, pigeon soup — and the meetings became makeshift dinner parties.

From New York Times • Mar. 6, 2015

Who wants fit people interviewing pop stars when you can watch James Martin stuff a pigeon breast?

From The Guardian • Dec. 14, 2012

At last, we had run out of seafood options, so Nancy chose the wild pigeon breast, small disks of meat wrapped in Parma ham.

From New York Times • Aug. 12, 2010

When little Joe had got the violin he pressed it to his shoulder, and his heart bounded as though it would have burst the pigeon breast.

From A Book of Ghosts by Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine)