chick

A baby chicken (chick), Gallus gallus domesticus

English

Etymology

From Middle English chike, variation of chiken (“chicken”), from Old English ċicen, cycen (“chicken”). Sense of "young woman" first attested in Elmer Gantry by Sinclair Lewis (1927) . More at chicken.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ʧɪk/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪk

Noun

chick (plural chicks)

1. (zoology) A young bird.
2. A young chicken.
3. (slang) (Discuss⁽⁺⁾ this sense) A young (especially attractive) woman.

   Three cool chicks / Are walking down the street / Swinging their hips — song "Three Cool Cats" by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller

   • 1927, Sinclair Lewis, Elmer Gantry:

     He had determined that marriage now would cramp his advancement in the church and that, anyway, he didn't want to marry this brainless little fluffy chick, who would be of no help in impressing rich parishioners.

   • 2004, Tess Pendergrass, Bad moon rising‎:

     I can't believe you've got a hot chick in that ratty apartment with you.

4. (slang) A woman.

   Check that chick out.

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:girl
• See also Wikisaurus:woman

Derived terms

• chick flick
• chick lit

Translations

young bird

Arabic: فرخ (ar) (farkh) m. Armenian: ճուտ (hy) (č̣ut) Bosnian: ptiče (bs) n. Bulgarian: пиленце (bg) f. Chinese: Mandarin: 雛鳥 (zh), 雏鸟 (zh) (chúniǎo) Czech: ptáče (cs) n. Danish: fugleunge (da), ungfugl (da) Dutch: kuiken (nl) n. Finnish: linnunpoika (fi), tipu (fi), untuvikko (fi) French: oisillon (fr) m. Georgian: ბარტყი (ka) (bartqi) German: Küken (de) n. Greek: νεοσσός (el), νεαρό πουλί (el) Hebrew: אפרוח (he) m. or גוזל (he) Italian: pulcino (it) m. Japanese: ヒナ (ja) (ひな, hina) Kurdish: جوجک Lithuanian: paukščiukas (lt) m.

Macedonian: пиле (mk) (píle) n. Maltese: ferħ (mt) m., ferħa (mt) f. Norwegian: fugleunge (no) m. Polish: pisklę (pl) n. Portuguese: filhote de ave (pt) m. Romanian: pui (ro) Russian: птенец (ru) (ptenéc) m. Scottish Gaelic: isean (gd) m., eireag (gd) f., bigean (gd) m., pùdach (gd) m. Serbian: Cyrillic: птиче n., птичица f. Roman: ptiče n., prtičica f. Serbo-Croatian: ptić (sh), ptiče (sh), ptičica (sh), pile (sh), potrkušac (sh), čučavac (sh) Sicilian: puddicinu (scn) m. Spanish: polluelo (es) m., pichón (es) m. (dove's chick) Swedish: fågelunge (sv)

young chicken

Arabic: كتكوت Armenian: ճուտ (hy) (č̣ut) Bosnian: pile (bs) n. Bulgarian: пиле (bg) n. Burmese: ကြက်ကလေး (my) (kyetkăle:) Catalan: pollet (ca) m. Chinese: Mandarin: 雛 (zh), 雏 (zh) (chú) Croatian: pile (hr) n. Czech: kuře (cs) n. Danish: kylling (da) c. Dutch: kuiken (nl) n. Estonian: kanapoeg (et) Finnish: kananpoika (fi), tipu (fi) French: poussin (fr) m. Georgian: წიწილა (ka) (cicila), ბარტყი (ka) (bartqi) German: Küken (de) n. Gronings: piek Hebrew: אפרוח (he) (efroakh) m. or פרגית (he) (pargith) f. Hungarian: csibe (hu) Italian: pulcino (it) m.

Japanese: ヒヨコ (ja) (ひよこ, hiyoko) Lithuanian: viščiukas (lt) m. Macedonian: пиле (mk) (píle) n., коковче (mk) (kókovče) n. Maltese: fellus (mt) m. Norwegian: kylling (no) m. Polish: kurczak (pl) m. Portuguese: pintinho (pt) m., pintainho (pt) m., (Brazil) pinto (pt) m. Romanian: pui (ro) Russian: цыплёнок (ru) (cypljónok) m. Scottish Gaelic: isean (gd) m., eireag (gd) f. Serbian: Cyrillic: пиле n., пиленцe n. Roman: pile n., pilence n. Serbo-Croatian: pile (sh), pilić (sh) Sicilian: puddicinu (scn) m. Slovene: pišče (sl) Spanish: pollito (es) m. Tamil: please add this translation if you can Telugu: కోడి పిల్ల (te) Turkish: civciv (tr) Wolof: cuuj bi (wo)

young woman

Arabic: موزة (ar) (Egyptian slang) Armenian: նանար (hy) (nanar) Bulgarian: мацка (bg) f. Czech: kočka (cs) f. Danish: pigebarn (da), (slang) sild (da) Dutch: griet (nl) f., fien (nl) f., stoot (nl) f. Finnish: tipu (fi), typykkä (fi), tytsy (fi) French: nana (fr) f., gonzesse (fr) f. German: Schnecke (de) f., Tussi (de) f. Hebrew: פרגית (he) (Pargith) f. Italian: gnocca (it) f. Maltese: ċiċċa (mt) f.

Norwegian: (depending on age of speaker) +40 yrs: rype (no); 20 - 40 yrs: dame (no); <20: spa kæbe (no) (used widely in inner east Oslo, derived from urdu) Polish: laska (pl) f. Portuguese: franguinha (pt) f., garota (pt) Romanian: tipă (ro) f. Russian: цыпочка (ru) (cýpočka) f., тёлочка (ru) (tjóločka) f. Serbo-Croatian: koka (sh), pile (sh), piletina (sh) Spanish: chica (es) f., muchacha (es) f. Swedish: tjej (sv) Telugu: కోడి పిల్ల (te) Turkish: civciv (tr)