- [countable]
a large bird that is often kept for its eggs or meat 鸡 
They keep chickens in the back yard. 他们在后院养鸡。 free-range chickens 自由放养的鸡 Chickens were pecking at the ground. 小鸡在啄食地面。 the sound of chickens clucking 鸡咯咯叫的声音
Extra ExamplesTopics Birdsa1A few chickens were scratching around the yard. 几只鸡在院子里到处刨。 Are we just going to sit here like trussed up chickens? 难道我们只能像被缚的鸡一样呆坐在这里吗？ Battery chickens have miserable lives. 在鸡笼里饲养的鸡生存环境很差。 Free-range chickens have happy lives. 放养的鸡活得快活。 a crate of live chickens 一箱活鸡
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- battery
- broiler
- corn-fed
- …
- keep
- raise
- kill
- …
- peck
- scratch
- cluck
- …
- farmer
- coop
- run
- …
- [uncountable]
meat from a chicken 鸡肉 fried chicken 炸鸡 roast/grilled chicken 烤鸡 succulent pieces of chicken 鲜嫩美味的鸡肉块 chicken and chips 炸鸡块配炸薯条 chicken breasts/wings 鸡胸肉/鸡翅 chicken livers/thighs 鸡肝/鸡腿 chicken nuggets 鸡肉块 a chicken sandwich 鸡肉三明治 chicken soup 鸡汤 chicken stock 原汁鸡汤
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- fresh
- frozen
- organic
- …
- piece
- strip
- eat
- have
- cook
- …
- breast
- drumsticks
- giblets
- …
- (a) breast of chicken
- (a) leg of chicken
- [countable]
a person who is not brave or is afraid to do something 胆怯；懦弱；怯懦 He called me a chicken because I wouldn't swim in the river. 他叫我胆小鬼，因为我不愿意到河里游泳。
Word OriginOld English cīcen, cȳcen, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch kieken and German Küchlein, and probably also to cock.
Idioms
a chicken-and-egg situation, problem, etc.
a situation in which it is difficult to tell which one of two things was the cause of the other 鸡与蛋孰先难定的情况；因果难定的问题
something comes home to roost
(also the chickens come home to roost)
used to say that if somebody says or does something bad or wrong, it will affect them badly in the future 自食恶果；报应到自己身上
don’t count your chickens (before they are hatched)
- (saying)
you should not be too confident that something will be successful, because something may still go wrong 不要蛋未孵化先数小鸡；别过早打如意算盘
play chicken
to play a game in which people do something dangerous for as long as they can to show how brave they are. The person who stops first has lost the game. 比试胆量 The children had been playing chicken by running across the railway line. 孩子们跑过铁路线是在玩小鸡游戏。
run around like a headless chicken
to be very busy and active trying to do something, but not very organized, with the result that you do not succeed 茫无头绪地瞎忙一通