Chick

Chick, chik, n. the young of fowls, esp. of the hen: a child, as a term of endearment.—ns. Chick′a-bid′dy, Chick′-a-did′dle, terms of endearment addressed to children; Chick′en, the young of birds, esp. of the hen: its flesh: a child: a faint-hearted person; Chick′en-haz′ard, a game at dice (see Hazard); Chick′en-heart, a cowardly person.—adj. Chick′en-heart′ed.—ns. Chick′en-pox, a contagious febrile disease, chiefly of children, and bearing some resemblance to a very mild form of small-pox; Chick′ling, a little chicken; Chick′weed, a species of stitchwort, and one of the most common weeds of gardens and cultivated fields—for making poultices, and for feeding cage-birds, which are very fond of its leaves and seeds.—Mother Carey's chicken, a sailor's name for the Stormy Petrel; No chicken, one no longer young. [A.S. cicen; cf. Dut. kieken, Ger. küchlein.]