chicken-and-egg problem

A form of chicken-or-egg question — A supposed paradox concerning whether chickens or chicken eggs existed first.

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Meanings

nounchicken-and-egg problem (plural chicken-and-egg problems)

plural chicken-and-egg problems

  1. alternativeAlternative form of chicken-or-egg question.

    "I think you have a chicken-and-egg problem," Uncle Unzo says. "How did such a society first come to be organized?"

    1992, Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash, →ISBN, page 370
Cite this entry
APA

chicken-and-egg problem. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chicken-and-egg%20problem

MLA

“chicken-and-egg problem.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chicken-and-egg%20problem. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “chicken-and-egg problem,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chicken-and-egg%20problem.

Source: chicken-and-egg problem on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.