Chicken (?), n. [AS. cicen, cyceun, dim. of coc cock; akin to LG. kiken, küken, D. Kieken, kuiken, G. küchkein. See Cock the animal.] 1. A young bird or fowl, esp. a young barnyard fowl.
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2. A young person; a child; esp. a young woman; a maiden; same as spring chicken. “Stella is no chicken.” Swift.
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Chicken cholera, a contagious disease of fowls; -- so called because first studied during the prevalence of a cholera epidemic in France. It has no resemblance to true cholera.
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