hen

noun

ˈhen 

1

a

: a female chicken especially over a year old

broadly : a female bird

b

: the female of various mostly aquatic animals (such as lobsters or fish)

2

: woman

especially : a fussy middle-aged woman

Examples of hen in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Workers, who really rule the roost, rounded them up pretty quickly, with one hen herder even giving a thumbs up. —Leonard Greene, New York Daily News, 6 May 2024

Chickens at a plant in Texas' panhandle have tested positive bird flu resulting in the slaughter of 1.6 million hens and 337,000 pullets (young hens). —Natalie Neysa Alund, USA TODAY, 3 Apr. 2024

Tracie Hale took to her TikTok account, Windridge Farm Tales, to share how her hen, Harriet, became a mother figure to 10 Great Pyrenees puppies. —Zoey Lyttle, Peoplemag, 31 July 2024

To understand how hens visibly express emotion, researchers spent four weeks on a French farm observing 17 hens of two different breeds, Bertin said, filming their routine behaviors and their reactions to different stimuli. —Issy Ronald, CNN, 25 July 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Old English henn; akin to Old English hana rooster — more at chant

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing hen

• Cornish game hen
• Cornish hen
• game hen
• hazel hen
• heath hen
• hen and chickens
• hen night
• hen of the wood
• hen of the woods
• hen party
• hen track
• marsh hen
• mother hen
• Rock Cornish game hen
• Rock Cornish hen
• tappit hen
• water hen

Kids Definition

hen

noun

ˈhen 

1

: a female chicken especially over a year old

2

: a female of any bird