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 hope you don't mean to show the white feather, Andy?"

From The Nameless Island A Story of some Modern Robinson Crusoes by Percy F. (Percy Francis) Westerman

His expression was one of anxiety, but he did not show the white feather.

From Uncle's dream; And The Permanent Husband by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

This isn't the time to show the white feather.

From The White Blackbird by Hudson Douglas

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

The unexpected resumption of hostilities, the sudden cries hurled at them by the royalist army and by Jeannette, who now led it, greatly surprised the Burgundians, who, nevertheless, did not show the white feather.

From The Executioner's Knife Or Joan of Arc by Eug?ne Sue