Hen
noun
A female bird, especially a domestic fowl.
The hen laid an egg.
Often appears as...
- mother hen
- setting hen
noun
A woman, especially an older one.
She's an old hen who always talks about the good old days.
Often appears as...
- old hen
- hen party
Usage tips
Informal, Disapproving
Colloquial
noun
A party for women only, especially one held for a woman who is about to get married.
She is going to a hen party tonight.
Often appears as...
- hen party
- hen night
noun
A female bird, especially a domestic fowl.
The hen laid an egg.
Often appears as...
- mother hen
- setting hen
noun
A woman, especially an older one.
She's an old hen who always talks about the good old days.
Often appears as...
- old hen
- hen party
Usage tips
Informal, Disapproving
Colloquial
noun
A party for women only, especially one held for a woman who is about to get married.
She is going to a hen party tonight.
Often appears as...
- hen party
- hen night
Definition 1 of 3
Pro Tip 1/3Animals Only
Use 'hen' for female birds, not for other animals.
The hen clucked and pecked at the ground.
Pro Tip 2/3Not Always Chickens
'Hen' refers to female birds in general, not just chickens.
We saw a wild turkey hen with her poults.
Pro Tip 3/3Mothering Nature
'Mother hen' implies caring and protective behavior, often used metaphorically.
She acted like a mother hen, fussing over the children.
Compare with
broilerchickenfowlpullet
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Video examples
Every day you live, you...
Well, the thing is, I was born loving animals, and the most important thing was, I had a very supportive mother. She didn't get mad when she found earthworms in my bed, she just said they better be in the garden. And she didn't get mad when I disappeared for four hours and she called the police, and I was sitting in a hen house,
Video examples
Stewart Brand: The dawn...
that can be raised by band-tailed pigeon parents, and then from then on, it's passenger pigeons all the way, maybe for the next six million years. You can do the same thing, as the costs come down, for the Carolina parakeet, for the great auk, for the heath hen, for the ivory-billed woodpecker,
Video examples
Urban Gardeners Grow...
fosters a healthy ecosystem if the kids are racing out the door first thing in the morning and they've you know I'm not finished all of their food I can take those leftovers out to the hens they're getting a good breakfast there's not a
Video examples
Lowering the world’s...
treatment and I had that money in my pocket that day but that money was needed a few days before so I lived in Cartagena for two and a half years 1998 with my husband and my two baby boys Encarta hen I don't know if you've been
Video examples
Landmine-Sniffing...
elephants can smell landmines like rats and dogs that are used to help demine areas then elephants have a very powerful sense of smell so my hunch is and hen and early evidence suggests that elephants can detect landmines
Video examples
Juliana Machado...
As a good Brazilian myself, I too have a strong connection to nature. Since my early years, I learned from my parents a deep love, respect, and admiration for all living things. I still miss my pet hen today.
Video examples
Safari Live - Day 352 PIPE...
drongos feeding on insects are the white weight go about feeding on the fruit from the trees any alum call anything that I think could help me of where I am currently would be the guinea hens or the guinea
Video examples
History through the eyes...
to artificially incubate chicken eggs by placing them in baskets over hot ashes. That freed up hens to continue laying daily, and what had been a royal delicacy or religious offering became a common meal.
Video examples
Penguins Cutely Count...
humans to tell penguins apart it may be hard for even hen gwin's to tell themselves apart they identify each other by calls however state-of-the-art technology can help researchers out
Video examples
How to Attract a Bird! PIPE...
vocal cop bowerbirds have been encouraged to create colorful gardens generations of hens have become connoisseurs of art bestowing their
Video examples
Every day you live, you...
Well, the thing is, I was born loving animals, and the most important thing was, I had a very supportive mother. She didn't get mad when she found earthworms in my bed, she just said they better be in the garden. And she didn't get mad when I disappeared for four hours and she called the police, and I was sitting in a hen house,
Video examples
Stewart Brand: The dawn...
that can be raised by band-tailed pigeon parents, and then from then on, it's passenger pigeons all the way, maybe for the next six million years. You can do the same thing, as the costs come down, for the Carolina parakeet, for the great auk, for the heath hen, for the ivory-billed woodpecker,
Video examples
Urban Gardeners Grow...
fosters a healthy ecosystem if the kids are racing out the door first thing in the morning and they've you know I'm not finished all of their food I can take those leftovers out to the hens they're getting a good breakfast there's not a
Video examples
Lowering the world’s...
treatment and I had that money in my pocket that day but that money was needed a few days before so I lived in Cartagena for two and a half years 1998 with my husband and my two baby boys Encarta hen I don't know if you've been
Video examples
Landmine-Sniffing...
elephants can smell landmines like rats and dogs that are used to help demine areas then elephants have a very powerful sense of smell so my hunch is and hen and early evidence suggests that elephants can detect landmines
Video examples
Juliana Machado...
As a good Brazilian myself, I too have a strong connection to nature. Since my early years, I learned from my parents a deep love, respect, and admiration for all living things. I still miss my pet hen today.
Video examples
Safari Live - Day 352 PIPE...
drongos feeding on insects are the white weight go about feeding on the fruit from the trees any alum call anything that I think could help me of where I am currently would be the guinea hens or the guinea
Video examples
History through the eyes...
to artificially incubate chicken eggs by placing them in baskets over hot ashes. That freed up hens to continue laying daily, and what had been a royal delicacy or religious offering became a common meal.
Video examples
Penguins Cutely Count...
humans to tell penguins apart it may be hard for even hen gwin's to tell themselves apart they identify each other by calls however state-of-the-art technology can help researchers out
Video examples
How to Attract a Bird! PIPE...
vocal cop bowerbirds have been encouraged to create colorful gardens generations of hens have become connoisseurs of art bestowing their
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
Laura Ingalls Wilder
American Author
Mr. Wilder says he would rather have me help than any man he ever sawed with. And, believe me, I learned how to take care of hens and to make them lay.
Quote examples
Mary Berry
British Chef
I am a bit of a mother hen at Christmas! I always prepare in advance. It is the only way; otherwise, it can be really daunting.
Quote examples
Mark Twain
American Writer
Noise proves nothing. Often a hen who has merely laid an egg cackles as if she laid an asteroid.
Quote examples
Coco Chanel
French Designer
Gentleness doesn't get work done unless you happen to be a hen laying eggs.
Quote examples
Margaret Thatcher
English Leader
It may be the cock that crows, but it is the hen that lays the eggs.
Quote examples
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
French Painter
My dear Mama, you are definitely the hen who hatched a famous duck.
Quote examples
H. L. Mencken
American Writer
I go on working for the same reason that a hen goes on laying eggs.
Quote examples
Aeschylus
Greek Poet
Be bold and boast, just like the cock beside the hen.
Quote examples
Benjamin Franklin
American Politician
An egg today is better than a hen to-morrow.
Quote examples
J. R. R. Tolkien
English Novelist
A pen is to me as a beak is to a hen.
Quote examples
Laura Ingalls Wilder
American Author
Mr. Wilder says he would rather have me help than any man he ever sawed with. And, believe me, I learned how to take care of hens and to make them lay.
Quote examples
Mary Berry
British Chef
I am a bit of a mother hen at Christmas! I always prepare in advance. It is the only way; otherwise, it can be really daunting.
Quote examples
Mark Twain
American Writer
Noise proves nothing. Often a hen who has merely laid an egg cackles as if she laid an asteroid.
Quote examples
Coco Chanel
French Designer
Gentleness doesn't get work done unless you happen to be a hen laying eggs.
Quote examples
Margaret Thatcher
English Leader
It may be the cock that crows, but it is the hen that lays the eggs.
Quote examples
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
French Painter
My dear Mama, you are definitely the hen who hatched a famous duck.
Quote examples
H. L. Mencken
American Writer
I go on working for the same reason that a hen goes on laying eggs.
Quote examples
Aeschylus
Greek Poet
Be bold and boast, just like the cock beside the hen.
Quote examples
Benjamin Franklin
American Politician
An egg today is better than a hen to-morrow.
Quote examples
J. R. R. Tolkien
English Novelist
A pen is to me as a beak is to a hen.
Example 1 of 10
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