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Glite Dictionary
brood hen

brood hen

1 5.3
A hen that sits on eggs until they hatch
  • noun
  • /bruːd hɛn/
  • Jargon
: gallina clueca
  • They selected their best brood hen for a new clutch of eggs in the spring.

Examples

  • The farmer placed the fertilized eggs under a brood hen to ensure proper incubation.

  • Once a brood hen settles into her nest, she rarely leaves until the chicks hatch.

  • The brood hen sat patiently on her eggs.

  • Farmers often keep a brood hen for hatching chicks.

  • The farmer noticed that the brood hen was sitting on her nest, ready to hatch her eggs.

  • In spring, the brood hen will take care of the newly laid eggs until they are ready to hatch.

  • We watched the brood hen carefully tend to her chicks in the warm sunlight.

Synonyms

broody hen
vsbrood hen
1 5.4

A hen that sits on eggs to keep them warm until they hatch

is about being ready to incubate rather than habitual sitting tendency
setting hen
vsbrood hen
1 7.9

A hen that sits on eggs to keep them warm until they hatch

refers to readiness rather than necessarily sitting now
broody
vsbrood hen
1 8.6

A hen that sits on eggs to hatch them

focuses on readiness rather than current sitting behavior
sitter
vsbrood hen
  • UK
1 9.8

A hen that stays on her eggs to keep them warm until they hatch

has identical meaning but uses a different name

Surface Forms

brood hen singular
brood hens plural

Morphology

brood + hen

The noun is compositionally built from 'brood' (to sit on/incubate eggs) + 'hen' (female chicken), so its meaning — a hen that is ready to brood/incubate — is directly derivable from the constituents. This clear, literal combination follows common noun-modifier patterns and is cross-linguistically transparent, so a B1 learner who knows both words would readily understand it.

Etymology

Brood hen shows the simple image of a hen that broods: she sits on eggs to keep them warm and help them hatch. So, a brood hen means a farm hen 'ready to incubate' eggs.