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View synonyms for white feather
white feather
noun
Chiefly British.
a symbol of cowardice.
white feather
noun
a symbol or mark of cowardice
to act in a cowardly manner
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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
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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