white feather

noun

: a mark or symbol of cowardice

—used chiefly in the phrase show the white feather

Word History

Etymology

from the superstition that a white feather in the plumage of a gamecock is a mark of a poor fighter

First Known Use

circa 1785, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for white feather

• altogether
• aether
• gether
• heather
• leather
• nether
• tether
• weather
• wether
• whether
• together