hen
- noun
- /hɛn/
- Our backyard has several hens that lay fresh eggs daily.
- laying hens
- hen's eggs
- a hen house
So it's like they're going to eat them, whereas the hens will make eggs.
- So it's like they're going to eat them, whereas the hens will make eggs.
- You know that old saying about the fox guarding A hen house?
- But hey, I wanted to let you know that in your episode you were talking about turquoise hens or Turkish hens.
- And instead of scolding me, she sat down to hear the wonderful story of how a hen lays an egg.
- I mean, we had dozens of chickens and geese and ducks, pheasant, I mean, pheasants, quail, Guinea hen, we had everything in between.
- No, that's like, OK, I'm a fox and I'm going to watch these hens because I think it's a problem that foxes eat hens.
- Chickens, ducks, geese, Guinea hens, pheasants, quail, raised Chesapeake Bay retrievers, cows, horses, everything.
- You little Turkish game hens remember Turkish game hen.
Examples
-
All we know is we set the hen and the chicken does come out of the egg.
-
We were down to five hens, so I could get back without taking a breath.
Fiction book (1991) -
I was going to get up and get a hen out there for dinner, but time got away.
Fiction book (1990) -
Is it a hen with a tragic life or a beautiful life?
-
Ah, yes, the hens are magnificent.
-
What does the owner do on the farm where the laying hens are located?
Academic text (1997) -
I gently grasped the two eggs under the hen and pulled them out.
Academic text (1992) -
I'm gonna gather up the hens and I'm gonna leave.
-
Farmers who take care of the laying hens for corporations generally receive depression-type wages for their work.
Academic text (2000) -
Today, almost no farmer even raises and keeps laying hens for the family's supply of eggs.
Academic text (1999)
Synonyms
A bird kept on farms for eggs and meat
A hen kept for its eggs rather than for meat
A grown hen kept for eggs
Idioms
Compounds
- Australian
A large female ground bird from Australia that builds big nesting mounds and looks after eggs
- New Zealand
A large flightless bird from New Zealand with short wings and a small sharp spur that often steals shiny things
A garden plant with hanging bell-shaped flowers that are purple and white in a checkered pattern
- US
A large wild bird like a prairie chicken that lived in eastern North America and is now extinct
- UK
A medium bird of prey with long wings and tail that flies low to hunt over marshes and open land
A large mushroom you can eat that has many overlapping caps and grows at the base of trees
A large edible mushroom with many overlapping caps that looks like a hen and grows at the base of trees
- New Zealand
A flightless bird from New Zealand with small spikes on its wings that is bold and curious
How Young
Surface Forms
Etymology
Hen comes from an old English word that simply meant 'female bird', so the image to remember is an adult female bird sitting in the yard. That's why hen today names an adult female chicken or, more generally, a female bird.