hen

plural hens · alternative henne

1. A female chicken (Gallus gallus), especially a sexually mature one kept for her eggs.

   1 more example

   She was a fat, round little woman, richly apparelled in velvet and lace, […]; and the way she laughed, cackling like a hen, the way she talked to the waiters and the maid,[…]—all these unexpected phenomena impelled one to hysterical mirth, and made one class her with such immortally ludicrous types as Ally Sloper, the Widow Twankey, or Miss Moucher.

   1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter II, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC

2. A female of other bird species, particularly a sexually mature female fowl.

   In Tain, north of Inverness, staff detected 11 males and at least seven hens – the highest number there since 2011.

   2023 June 17, Severin Carrell, “Dancing Capercaillie bird makes a tentative comeback in Scotland”, in The Guardian

3. uncommonA female fish (especially a salmon or trout) or crustacean.

   1 more example

   As spawning time approaches – autumn or very early winter in most rivers, though in some late-run streams salmon may spawn as late as January or February – the hen's colouration becomes first a matt-pewter and then a drab dark brown-grey. The cock fish, in contrast, begins to gain some brighter colours.

   2005, Roderick Sutterby, Malcolm Greenhalgh, “Life in the Nursery”, in Atlantic Salmon: An Illustrated Natural History, Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, →ISBN, page 21

   Synonyms: fishess, henfish, spawner

4. figurativelyA woman.

   Hen, a woman. A cock and hen club; a club composed of men and women.

   1785, Francis Grose, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

   1. UKfigurativelyinformalA bride-to-be, particularly in the context of a hen night.
5. UKinformalA hen night.
6. ScotlandinformalAn affectionate term of address used to women or girls.

   Don't cry, hen. Everything will be all right.

7. transgender slangThe penis of a trans woman.

   Coordinate term: cock

   Synonyms: clit, clitoris, femcock, femdick, girlcock, girldick, girlglock, gock

8. derogatoryfigurativelyuncommonA henlike person of either sex.
9. The hard clam (Mercenaria mercenaria), a bivalve shellfish.

   Synonyms: hard clam, hen-clam, hen-fish

10. obsoleteA large pewter pot used in a tavern.

present singular third person hens · participle present henning · participle past henned · past henned · alternative henne

1. intransitivetransitiveSynonym of mother-hen.

   Once he had flared up, "If ever a man was henned, it's me!"

   1943, McCall's - Volume 71, page 69

   1 more example

   Mammy henned the black workers into placing the trunks beside the girls.

   1984, Susan C. Feldhake, Love Beyond Surrender, page 52

   Synonyms: mother-hen

1. dialectalnot comparableHence.

present singular third person hens · participle present henning · participle past henned · past henned

1. dialectalTo throw.