chick
Pluralchicks
Pluralchicks
Formschicks, chicking, chicked
- 1A young bird, especially a young chicken, that has recently hatched.
Each chick in the nest opened its beak for food.
Penguin chicks huddle together for warmth in the cold.
Similarhatchling
- 2A young woman or girl, in casual speech; many people find the word disrespectful or sexist.
He introduced me to a chick he had met at the concert.
My roommate swears the chick behind the coffee counter smiled at him again this morning.
UsageAlso before a noun for things aimed at women: chick flick, chick lit.
Similarbabe, girl, gal, bird, lassie
Note
The leap from bird to young woman is older than it looks. In Joseph Verey's Tinsel or Gold (1860), an uncle scoffs at "A pretty chick to marry!"
- 3A young child, used as an affectionate term now considered dated.
Come here, my chick, and let me see that scraped knee.
When all six grandchildren arrived for the holidays, she bustled around the kitchen making sure each of her chicks had a full plate.
UsageCan be used when speaking to a child: my chick.
Similardarling, pet, lamb, poppet
Note
An endearment more than a description, and a dated one. It shares none of the casual edge of the "young woman" meaning. Even so, that slang use can make this tender older sense sound quaint or ambiguous today.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- The child sense is an affectionate, dated term. en.wiktionary.org
Less common meanings
- 4A hanging blind for a doorway or window, made of thin bamboo slats strung together with twine.
A faded chick rattled against the doorframe in the breeze.
Servants rolled up the chicks each morning to let in the light.
Similarblind
Note
It belongs to the English of India and Pakistan and to writing about them: George Orwell's Burmese Days (1934) has verandas "curtained with green bamboo chicks."
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- George Orwell wrote Burmese Days, first published in 1934. orwellfoundation.com
- Burmese Days describes verandas as 'curtained with green bamboo chicks.' gutenberg.net.au
- 5To sprout from the ground as a seed does; to begin growing.
plowing in his oats with a very feet furrow; and, after they have “chicked” but before they appear aboveground
1795, William Marshall, The Rural Economy of NorfolkNote
A farmer's verb, now obsolete, for the hidden first stage of growth. William Marshall's The Rural Economy of Norfolk, first published in 1787, uses it of oats that have "chicked" but have not yet appeared aboveground, meaning sprouted below the soil before any shoot shows. Sprout and germinate do this work today. A modern reader will meet this sense only in older agricultural writing.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- Chick was an agricultural verb meaning to sprout in the ground. en.wiktionary.org
- William Marshall wrote The Rural Economy of Norfolk. archive.org
- Marshall uses chicked of oats that have sprouted before appearing aboveground. en.wiktionary.org
- 6A friendly fighter aircraft, in military radio slang.
- 7To press the lips together and part them quickly, producing a short percussive sound.
He chicked his lips; he cracked his whip; he winked with a knowing leer; he ran down the alley and up the stair, then down the stair and up the alley
1844, James Ballantine, The Miller of Deanhaugh
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origins
From Middle English chicke, a variant of chiken ("chicken" or "chick"), from Old English ċicen ("chicken"). The sense of "young woman" dates to at least 1860.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- Chick derives from Middle English chicke, a variant of chiken meaning chicken or chick. en.wiktionary.org
- Middle English chiken derives from Old English ċicen, meaning chicken. en.wiktionary.org
- The young-woman sense is attested by 1860. en.wiktionary.org
English took this word for the blind from Hindustani چق (ciq) / चिक (cik), which itself goes back to Persian چق (čeq).