mud hen

noun

Any of various rails and coots, especially the Virginia rail (Rallus limicola), or the American coot (Fulica americana).

Similar
American cootmarsh henwater henFulica americana
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounmud hen (plural mud hens)

plural mud hens

  1. CanadaUSAny of various rails and coots, especially the Virginia rail (Rallus limicola), or the American coot (Fulica americana).

    They went to the sloughs to shoot mud hens and brought home a bag of the tiny, black, greasy birds.

    1984, Louise Erdrich, Love Medicine, Harper Perennial, published 2009, page 91

Synonyms & antonyms

nouna coot found in North America

Similar
American cootmarsh henwater henFulica americana
Broader
coot
Also see
american cootmarsh henpulldoowater hen

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Cite this entry
APA

mud hen. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mud%20hen

MLA

“mud hen.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mud%20hen. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mud hen,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mud%20hen.

Source: mud hen on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.