Chicken vs Duck - What's the difference?
chicken | duck |
(countable) A domestic fowl, Gallus gallus , especially when young
(uncountable) The meat from this bird eaten as food.
(countable, slang) A coward.
(countable, gay slang) A young, attractive, slim man, usually having little body hair. Compare chickenhawk
(countable, slang) A young or inexperienced person.
* 1887 , Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, A Study in Scarlet , III:
* Jonathan Swift
A confrontational game in which the participants move toward each other at high speed (usually in automobiles); the player who turns first to avoid colliding into the other is the chicken (, the loser.)
The game of dare.
To avoid as a result of fear.
To develop physical or other characteristics resembling a chicken's, for example, bumps on the skin.
To lower the head or body in order to prevent it from being struck by something.
To lower (something) into water; to thrust or plunge under liquid and suddenly withdraw.
* Fielding
To go under the surface of water and immediately reappear; to plunge one's head into water or other liquid.
* Dryden
To lower (the head) in order to prevent it from being struck by something.
To bow.
* Shakespeare
To evade doing something.
To lower the volume of (a sound) so that other sounds in the mix can be heard more clearly.
* 2007 , Alexander U. Case, Sound FX: unlocking the creative potential of recording studio effects (page 183)
An aquatic bird of the family Anatidae, having a flat bill and webbed feet.
Specifically'', an adult female duck; ''contrasted with'' drake ''and with duckling.
(uncountable) The flesh of a duck used as food.
(cricket) A batsman's score of zero after getting out. (short for duck's egg, since the digit "0" is round like an egg.)
(slang) A playing card with the rank of two.
A partly-flooded cave passage with limited air space.
A building intentionally constructed in the shape of an everyday object to which it is related.
* 2007 , Cynthia Blair, "It Happened on Long Island: 1988—Suffolk County Adopts the Big Duck," , 21 Feb.:
A marble to be shot at with another marble (the shooter) in children's games.
(US) A cairn used to mark a trail.
A tightly-woven cotton fabric used as sailcloth.
* 1912 , , "The Woman At The Store", from Selected Short Stories :
Trousers made of such material.
*1918 , (Rebecca West), The Return of the Soldier , Virago 2014, p. 56:
*:And they would go up and find old Allington, in white ducks , standing in the fringe of long grasses and cow-parsley on the other edge of the island […].
A term of endearment; pet; darling.
Dear, mate (informal way of addressing a friend or stranger).
In uncountable terms the difference between chicken and duck
is that chicken is the meat from this bird eaten as food while duck is the flesh of a duck used as food.In intransitive terms the difference between chicken and duck
is that chicken is to develop physical or other characteristics resembling a chicken's, for example, bumps on the skin while duck is to bow.As an adjective chicken
is cowardly.chicken
English
(wikipedia chicken) (Gallus gallus) (Gallus gallus)Noun
- "This case will make a stir, sir," he remarked. "It beats anything I have seen, and I am no chicken ."
- Stella is no chicken .
- Don't play chicken with a freight train; you're guaranteed to lose.
Synonyms
* (bird) cock (male only), chook , hen (female only), rooster (male only) * (coward) * twink * (young inexperienced person) spring chicken * See alsoDerived terms
* chicken and egg * chicken feed * chicken fillet * chickenhawk * chicken Kiev * chickenpox * chicken salt * chickenshit * like a chicken with its head cut off * like a chicken with the pip * play chicken * run around like a chicken with its head cut off * spring chickenVerb
(en verb)Derived terms
* chicken out * chicken legsSee also
* egg * poultry * cockerel * henduck
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) .Verb
(en verb)- Adams, after ducking the squire twice or thrice, leaped out of the tub.
- In Tiber ducking thrice by break of day.
- (Jonathan Swift)
- The learned pate / Ducks to the golden fool.
- The music is ducked under the voice.
Synonyms
* (to lower the head) duck down * (to lower into the water) dip, dunk * (to lower in order to prevent it from being struck by something) dipDerived terms
* duck and cover * duck outEtymology 2
From (etyl) ducke, dukke, doke, dokke, douke, duke, from (etyl) duce, .Noun
- A luncheonette in the shape of a coffee cup is particularly conspicuous, as is intended of an architectural duck or folly.
- The Big Duck has influenced the world of architecture; any building that is shaped like its product is called a ‘duck ’.
Hyponyms
* (bird) Anas platyrhynchos (domesticus), Mallard-derived domestic breeds, including Pekin, Rouen, Campbell, Call, Runner; Cairina moschata, Muscovy duckDerived terms
* break one’s duck, break the duck * Burdekin duck * dabbling duck * decoy duck * diving duck * duck-arsed * duckbill * duck-billed * duckboard * duck-footed * duckling * duckness * ducks and drakes * ducks on the pond * hunt where the ducks are * lame duck * Lord love a duck * odd duck * Peking duck * rubber duck * * shelduck * sitting duck * take to something like a duck to waterSee also
* anatine * drake * goose * quack * swan * waterfowlReferences
* Weisenberg, Michael (2000)The Official Dictionary of Poker. MGI/Mike Caro University. ISBN 978-1880069523
Etymology 3
From (etyl) doek, from (etyl) doeck, .Alternative forms
* (l), (l) (Scotland)Noun
(en noun)- He was dressed in a Jaeger vest—a pair of blue duck trousers, fastened round the waist with a plaited leather belt.
Etymology 4
(central England). From (etyl) .Noun
(en noun)- And hold-fast is the only dog, my duck (William Shakespeare - The Life of King Henry the Fifth, Act 2, Scene 3).
- Ay up duck , ow'a'tha?