chicken run
1
2.2
- noun
- /ˈtʃɪkən rʌn/
:
corral de gallinas
- After finishing the chicken run, we built a chicken run so the birds could enjoy fresh air.
Examples
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Not daring a backward glance, he dashed down the walkways, past the sheds and chicken run.
Fiction book (1995) -
The chicken run provides a safe space for the hens to roam outdoors.
-
"Look at the chicken run away."
Fiction book (1994) -
And what d'you think you're doing, hiding yourself away in this chicken run?
-
"Mattie shot a cougar in our chicken run last night, but when she went to see, it was Bud French.
Fiction book (1993) -
These included a potato cellar, a chicken run, a toolshed filled with mysterious ancient rusted artifacts, and an old greenhouse with a thousand broken panes of glass.
Fiction book (2001) -
This morning, my hubby said that the brazen red-tailed hawk was sitting on the chain-link fence that serves as our chicken run, in broad daylight and right next to the house.
Blog text (34) -
The farmer decided to expand the chicken run to give the flock more room to roam.
Synonyms
1
1.7
A yard where chickens are kept
A small fenced area where hens live
An enclosed yard where chickens or ducks are kept
How Big
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'an enclosed area for chickens' is directly derivable from combining 'chicken' (the animal) with 'run' understood as a place or area where animals run or are kept. Although 'run' has multiple senses (e.g., a small stream), the animal-enclosure sense is common in English compounds, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer this literal meaning.
Etymology
The noun chicken run comes from combining chicken and run: it is the fenced 'run' where chickens move around outside their coop. People built these safe spaces so chickens could be outside without danger, so today chicken run means 'an enclosed outdoor area for chickens'.