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Sparrow vs Hen - What's the difference?

sparrow | hen |

As nouns the difference between sparrow and hen

is that sparrow is the house sparrow, Passer domesticus; a small bird with a short bill, and brown, white and gray feathers while hen is a female bird.

As a proper noun Sparrow

is {{surname}.

As an adverb hen is

hence.

As a verb hen is

to throw.

sparrow

English

(wikipedia sparrow)

Noun

(en noun)
  • The house sparrow, Passer domesticus ; a small bird with a short bill, and brown, white and gray feathers.
  • A member of the family Passeridae, comprising small Old World songbirds.
  • A member of the family Emberizidae, comprising small New World songbirds.
  • Generically, any small, nondescript bird.
  • (UK, chiefly, London) A quick-witted, lively person. Often used in the phrase cockney sparrow .
  • * 2005 , Drama Faces: Martine McCutcheon , BBC
    • Professional cockney sparrow Martine has acted since childhood.
  • * 1878 , Ally Sloper's guide to the Paris exhibition , Charles Henry Ross, p. 54
    • I take it there 's scarcely a happier fellow alive than your honest town-bred smoke-dried cockney sparrow .

    Derived terms

    * sparrowhawk * house sparrow * (tree sparrow)

    Synonyms

    (checksyns) * spadger, sparra, spuggy

    hen

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) henne, heonne, hinne, from earlier henene, heonenen, henen, from (etyl) heonan, hionan, heonane, . See also (l).

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • (dialectal) Hence.

    • Etymology 2

    From , or a variant of hench.

    Verb

    (henn)
  • (dialectal) To throw.

    • Etymology 3

    From (etyl), from (etyl) henn, .

    Alternative forms

    * (l) (obsolete)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A female bird.
  • (specifically ) A female chicken, especially one kept for its eggs.
  • * , title=The Mirror and the Lamp
    • , chapter=2 citation , passage=She was a fat, round little woman, richly apparelled in velvet and lace, […]; and the way she laughed, cackling like a hen , the way she talked to the waiters and the maid, […]—all these unexpected phenomena impelled one to hysterical mirth, and made one class her with such immortally ludicrous types as Ally Sloper, the Widow Twankey, or Miss Moucher.}}
  • (slang) A woman.
  • (informal) The woman whose impending marriage is being celebrated at a hen night.
    • Derived terms
    * henbane * hen harrier * hen party * henpecked * mother hen
    See also
    * * broody

    Anagrams

    * * 1000 English basic words ----