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Definition of hen noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

hen

noun
 
/hen/
 
/hen/
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  1. a female chicken, often kept for its eggs or meat
    • a small flock of laying hens
    • battery hens
    Extra Examples
    • I could hear the hens clucking in the farmyard.
    • My hens have stopped laying.
    • The hen laid beautiful speckled eggs.
    • The hens pecked hopefully at the dusty floor.
    Topics Birdsc2
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • battery
    • free-range
    • mother
    • …
    verb + hen
    • keep
    hen + verb
    • lay
    • lay eggs
    • cluck
    • …
    hen + noun
    • coop
    • house
    See full entry
  2. (especially in compounds) any female bird
    • a hen pheasant
    compare cock see also moorhenTopics Birdsc2
    3. Word OriginOld English henn, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch hen and German Henne.
see also mother henSee hen in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
Check pronunciation: hen

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