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View synonyms for white feather

white feather

noun

Chiefly British.
  1. a symbol of cowardice.



white feather

noun

  1. a symbol or mark of cowardice

  2. to act in a cowardly manner

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word History and Origins

Origin of white feather1

First recorded in 1775–85; originally from a white feather in a gamecock's tail, taken as a sign of inferior breeding and hence of poor fighting qualities
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Word History and Origins

Origin of white feather1

from the belief that a white feather in a gamecock's tail was a sign of a poor fighter
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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. show the white feather, to behave in a cowardly manner.

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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.

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