show the white feather

Idioms  

1. Display cowardice, as in The minute Bob put up his fists, Bill showed the white feather and backed down. This expression comes from cockfighting, where a white feather in a bird's tail is considered a sign of inferior breeding. [Early 1800s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

show the white feather

I had but one hope; and this was that Monsieur Despard might after all prove a bavard, and show the white feather.

From The Guerilla Chief And other Tales by Mayne Reid

Not one went up; even Josh, who had seemed inclined that way, upon ascertaining that Nick declined to show the white feather, allowed his half raised hand to drop again.

From Motor Boat Boys on the St. Lawrence by Louis Arundel

It was eight miles from my home, hence this was no place to show the "white feather."

From From Bull Run to Appomattox by Luther W. Hopkins

I am not accustomed to be easily dismayed; besides, I had ridden many dangerous horses in my time, and this was not the minute to show the white feather before a crowd of soldiers.

From The Memoirs of Count Carlo Gozzi; Volume the First by Carlo Gozzi

If any one of them happens to be valiant about something, he need not be comforted nor carried away by that; he would show the white feather just the same before something else.

From White Nights and Other Stories The Novels of Fyodor Dostoevsky, Volume X by Fyodor Dostoyevsky