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

But come; such a brave little woman as you mustn’t show the white feather at the mere sight of a hospital van.

From Jessica Trent: Her Life on a Ranch by Evelyn Raymond

The boys threw themselves down on the ground, some of them glad of the chance to recuperate without having to show the white feather.

From Woodcraft or, How a Patrol Leader Made Good by Alan Douglas

He could not draw back now—it would be too much of a climb-down; and it would never do for him, the football captain, to show the white feather.

From Gunpowder Treason and Plot And Other Stories for Boys by Harold Avery

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

If ten times the poltroon he is, he dare not show the white feather now.

From The Child Wife by Mayne Reid