poultry
Americannoun
-
poultries
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of poultry
1350–1400; Middle English pulletrie < Middle French pouleterie. See pullet, -ery
Explanation
Domesticated birds raised for meat or eggs are poultry. If you're going to keep poultry in your back yard, you'll need to build a chicken coop. When you talk about eating chicken or turkey, you can refer to that type of meat as poultry: "I don't eat red meat — just a little fish and poultry." Other birds that fall into the category of poultry are domesticated guinea hens, ducks, and geese. If they're wild, on the other hand, they're called game. Before poultry came to mean "domestic fowl" in the 14th century, it meant "place where fowl is sold."
Vocabulary lists containing poultry
This Week in Words: Current Events Vocabulary for October 7–October 13, 2023
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for February 2–February 8, 2025
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"The Ugly Duckling" by Hans Christian Andersen
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
China's import list includes more than 1,600 categories of American goods, including meats -- beef, pork, poultry and seafood -- grains, dairy, whiskey, coal and timber.
From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026
That’s translated into higher fuel and grocery costs for consumers, such as meat, poultry, eggs and dairy, which increased slightly, from 0.1% to 0.3%.
From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2026
Manure from cattle, pigs and poultry is scooped from heaps in the fields and carefully weighed to be spread evenly.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
A rise in flock sizes, larger breeds and steady beef demand have contributed to a poultry surplus.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
We was sent out on nights to catch some poultry from farms.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
