chicken
chicken — 名詞
- chickensingular
- chickensplural
1. a farm bird that people keep to get eggs from or to eat. The word is also used f
雞
一種家禽；其肉
a farm bird that people keep to get eggs from or to eat. The word is also used for the food that comes from cooking this bird.
The chickens in Hana's garden give six eggs every morning.
Hana 花園裡的雞每天早上會下六顆蛋。
countable: the live bird
Kofi cooked chicken with rice and beans for the family.
Kofi 做了雞肉搭配米飯和豆子給家人吃。
uncountable: the meat as food
Leila bought three young chickens from the farm last week.
Leila 上週從農場買了三隻小雞。
The chicken soup that Aunt Rosa makes is always very good.
Rosa 阿姨煮的雞湯總是很好喝。
collocation: chicken soup / chicken breast
Ravi keeps chickens for eggs and sells the extra meat at the market.
Ravi 養雞來取蛋，並在市場賣多餘的雞肉。
countable + uncountable in one sentence
- raise chickens
- keep chickens
- feed the chickens
- roast chicken
- fried chicken
- chicken breast
- chicken soup
- chicken farm
用法筆記
Countable when referring to the living bird (three chickens). Uncountable when referring to the meat (some chicken). When ordering food, 'chicken' without an article means the meat.
常見錯誤
2. a person who does not have enough courage to do something difficult or frighteni
膽小鬼
缺乏勇氣的人
a person who does not have enough courage to do something difficult or frightening
Tomás was called a chicken by other kids for not jumping off the wall.
Tomás 因為不敢從牆上跳下來，被其他孩子叫膽小鬼。
informal: called someone a chicken
Yara admitted she was a chicken and asked her cousin to try the ride first.
Yara 承認自己是膽小鬼，請表姊先試乘那項遊樂設施。
Don't be a chicken, Wen — the roller coaster is perfectly safe!
Wen，別當膽小鬼——雲霄飛車非常安全！
informal command: 'Don't be a chicken'
Noa felt like a chicken when he could not bring himself to speak in class.
Noa 覺得自己像個膽小鬼，因為他無法在課堂上開口發言。
- call someone a chicken
- be a chicken
- feel like a chicken
- coward
stronger and more negative; can be used in formal contexts
- scaredy-cat
more playful and childish; very informal
- wimp
informal; suggests weakness more than fear
用法筆記
Strongly informal. Avoid in formal writing or polite conversation. Often used playfully among friends, but can sound insulting if used seriously with strangers.
常見錯誤
A situation where it is unclear which of two things caused the other.
雞生蛋蛋生雞的情況
Mia faced a chicken-and-egg situation: she needed experience to get a job, but a job to get experience.
Is poverty the cause of crime, or crime the cause of poverty? It's a chicken-and-egg problem.
Used to say that bad actions will eventually cause problems for the person who did them.
惡有惡報
After years of ignoring his health, his bad habits came home to roost.
The company's dishonest practices came home to roost when customers stopped trusting them.
You should not be too confident that something will succeed because things can still go wrong.
別高興得太早
Sara thought she had won the contest, but she didn't count her chickens before they hatched.
Don't count your chickens before they hatch; the deal might still fall through.
play chicken
idiomTo take part in a dangerous game where people test each other's courage, and the first to stop loses.
玩膽小鬼遊戲
Two drivers played chicken on the highway, each refusing to swerve first.
Playing chicken with a train is extremely foolish and can be deadly.
To be very busy but disorganized, often resulting in failure to achieve anything.
像無頭蒼蠅一樣亂轉
Before the exam, Diego ran around like a headless chicken, forgetting his notes.
The new manager ran around like a headless chicken, but nothing got done.
chicken — 形容詞
- chickenpositive
- more chickencomparative
- most chickensuperlative
1. lacking the courage to do something that involves risk or discomfort; not brave
膽小的
缺乏勇氣的
lacking the courage to do something that involves risk or discomfort; not brave enough to try
Theo felt too chicken to join the others on the high diving board.
Theo 太膽小了，不敢和其他人一起上高跳水台。
predicative: feel chicken
Rohan was chicken about telling his parents about the broken window.
Rohan 不敢告訴爸媽他把窗戶打破了。
pattern: chicken about [something]
Beatriz is not chicken — she just does not like dangerous games.
Beatriz 不是膽小——她只是不喜歡危險的遊戲。
The stray cat was chicken around strangers and always hid behind the shed.
那隻浪貓在陌生人面前很膽小，總是躲在棚子後面。
collocation: chicken around [something]
- feel chicken
- be chicken
- too chicken to [verb]
- chicken about [something]
用法筆記
Only used predicatively (after a linking verb like 'be', 'feel', 'seem'), never before a noun. You can say 'He is chicken' but NOT 'a chicken man' for the adjective meaning. For attributive use, choose 'cowardly' or 'timid' instead.
常見錯誤
chicken — 動詞
- chickenpresent simple I / you / we / they
- chickens3rd person singular
- chickening-ing form
- chickenedpast simple
1. to decide not to do something you planned because you suddenly feel too afraid
退縮
因害怕而放棄計劃
to decide not to do something you planned because you suddenly feel too afraid
Diego wanted to try the race but chickened out at the last second.
Diego 本想參加比賽，但在最後一刻退縮了。
phrasal verb: chicken out
Aiko chickened out of the climb when she saw how steep the path was.
Aiko 看到路徑那麼陡之後，就退縮不敢去攀爬了。
pattern: chicken out of [something]
Bao was about to ask a question but chickened out and stayed quiet.
Bao 本來想問問題，但退縮了，保持沉默。
The group planned to camp in the forest, but Oskar chickened out and went home.
大家本來計劃在森林裡露營，但 Oskar 退縮了，直接回家。
- chicken out
- chicken out of [something]
- back out
similar meaning but can be for any reason (not just fear); neutral register
- pull out
more neutral; can mean withdrawing from an arrangement for practical reasons
- get cold feet
idiomatic; specifically about losing confidence or becoming nervous before an event
用法筆記
Nearly always used with the particle 'out' as the phrasal verb 'chicken out'. The bare form 'chicken' without 'out' is very rare in modern English and may sound unnatural. Can also take 'of' before the thing avoided: 'chickened out of the race.'
常見錯誤
同根字
- chick名詞A2
常見搭配
常用片語
- play chicken
- chicken-and-egg situation
- count one's chickens before they hatch