hen

[ hen ]

noun

1. a female chicken:

   Our hens only recently started laying, but these fresh eggs were worth the wait!

2. the female of any bird, especially a gallinaceous bird:

   The mallard drakes are splendidly colorful while the hens are camouflaged in drab plumage.

3. the female of certain marine creatures, including lobsters and salmon:

   I prefer a hen when making lobster bisque, as the dark red roe enhances both flavor and color.

4. Informal: Sometimes Offensive. a usually middle-aged or older woman, especially one who is considered to be petty or gossipy:

   Let’s get out of here and leave the hens to their blather.

5. Informal. a female in attendance at a hen party:

   The incident at the restaurant occurred hours after our party was over and we’d all gone home, but all of us hens were brought in for questioning the next morning.

6. British and Australian Informal. the bride-to-be at a bachelorette party:

   A toast to Vera, the beautiful hen, who’s flying our coop in less than a fortnight!

7. Scots Informal. an affectionate or familiar term of address to a girl or woman:

   That’s lovely, hen, thank you.

hen

/ hɛn /

noun

1. the female of any bird, esp the adult female of the domestic fowl
2. the female of certain other animals, such as the lobster
3. informal.
   a woman regarded as gossipy or foolish
4. dialect.
   a term of address (often affectionate), used to women and girls
5. scarce as hen's teeth
   extremely rare

Other Words From

• hen·like adjective
• hen·nish adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of hen¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English hen(n) (compare Old English hana “cock”); cognate with German Henne; akin to Latin canere “to sing”; chant ( def ), charm ¹( def )

Word History and Origins

Origin of hen¹

Old English henn; related to Old High German henna, Old Frisian henne

Idioms and Phrases

see mad as a hornet (wet hen) ; scarce as hen's teeth .

Example Sentences

They said Ms Allen-Wyatt used multiple reasons for not doing them, including car crashes, lack of pitch availability, schedule clashes, her hen party and her wedding.

From BBC

His herd of 400 cows are milked three times a day on behalf of a major milk supplier and his 18,000 hens lay eggs for a leading supermarket.

From BBC

And in Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire, some locals last month complained of an uptick in stag and hen parties after the town was popularised by BBC crime series Happy Valley.

From BBC

More than 1,300 protected birds of prey – from hen harriers to golden eagles - have been killed across the UK over the past 15 years, according to the RSPB.

From BBC

We cage billions of hens, giving them less space than a sheet of paper for their eggs on factory farms.

From Salon

Related Words

• chicken
• duck
• fowl
• geese
• pheasant
• pigeon