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

"I hope you won't show the white feather by doing anything desperate?"

From The Story of an Untold Love by Ford, Paul Leicester

And now as regarded his own safety this man thought nothing, he whom we have heard referred to as a ‘funkstick,’ as prone to show the white feather, and so forth.

From In the Whirl of the Rising by Mitford, Bertram

We’ve stood in front of death too many times now to show the white feather.

From Midnight Webs by Fenn, George Manville

"Going to show the white feather?" sneered Strachan.

From The Courier of the Ozarks by Dunn, Byron A. (Byron Archibald)

It was not in her nature to show the white feather!

From The Little Vanities of Mrs. Whittaker A Novel by Winter, John Strange