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hen

Syllabification: (hen)
Pronunciation: /hen/
Translate hen | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of hen

noun

  • a female bird, especially of a domestic fowl.
  • (hens) domestic fowls of either sex.
  • used in names of birds, especially waterbirds of the rail family, e.g., moorhen.
  • a female lobster, crab, or salmon.

Phrases

as rare (or scarce) as hen's teeth

extremely rare.

Origin:

Old English henn, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch hen and German Henne

hen in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of hen in the British & World English dictionary