chicken hawk

noun

1. Also called hen hawk. (not used scientifically) any of various hawks said to prey on poultry.
2. Slang. an older man who seeks out young boys as sexual partners.

Word History and Origins

Origin of chicken hawk¹

An Americanism dating back to 1820–30

Example Sentences

During the debate, she called for scaling back of U.S. military presence abroad and accused “this president and his chicken hawk cabinet have led us to the brink of war with Iran.”

From Fox News

“This president and his chicken hawk Cabinet have led us to the brink of war with Iran,” Gabbard said.

From Washington Post

Just what the world needed... another chicken hawk ready to sacrifice other people's kids just to feel manly and deflect attention from the fallout of the cesspool of corruption that is his life story.

From New York Times

Originally conceived as a commentary on Trump “hiding his nest eggs” in the form of undisclosed tax returns, the balloon had evolved into an indictment of the President’s “chicken hawk foreign policy”—more relevant than ever now that the President had been making incendiary remarks about North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

From Time

But they work for a chicken hawk president, who avoided military service by claiming “bone spurs” in a foot – though he later couldn’t remember which one - and who called his subsequent efforts to sleep around without picking up a sexually transmitted disease his “personal Vietnam”.

From The Guardian