Meanings
plural chicken lanes
- slangAn additional lane in the middle of a two-way street that assists drivers who are turning onto the two-way street.
It's about two miles long with three lanes - one this way, one that way, and a chicken lane. Our driver was determined that the chicken lane was his going across the bridge driving about sixty miles per hour.
1998, Journal of the American Historical Society of Germans from RussiaSynonyms: suicide lane
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn additional lane in the middle of a two-way street that assists drivers who are turning onto the two-way street.
Origin
The name derives from the game of "chicken," in which two drivers head directly at each other head-on, which is what drivers in opposing "chicken lanes" do until they both turn.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
chicken lane. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chicken%20lane
“chicken lane.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chicken%20lane. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “chicken lane,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chicken%20lane.
Source: chicken lane on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.