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Glite Dictionary
brood hen

brood hen

5.3
A hen that sits on eggs until they hatch
  • noun
  • /bruːd hɛn/
  • Jargon
translation icon : 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

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
broody
vsbrood hen
8.6

A hen that sits on eggs to hatch them

focuses on readiness rather than current sitting behavior
setting hen
vsbrood hen
7.9

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

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

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.