hen

hen is defined in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1913) with 1 sense. The full text of each entry is reproduced verbatim below.

Definitions

  1. 1.The female of the domestic fowl; also, the female of grouse, pheasants, or any kind of birds; as, the heath hen; the gray hen. Note: Used adjectively or in combination to indicate the female; as, hen canary, hen eagle, hen turkey, peahen. Hen clam. (Zoöl.) (a) A clam of the Mactra, and allied genera; the sea clam or surf clam. See Surf clam. (b) A California clam of the genus Pachydesma. -- Hen driver. See Hen harrier (below). -- Hen harrier (Zoöl.), a hawk (Circus cyaneus), found in Europe and America; -- called also dove hawk, henharm, henharrow, hen driver, and usually, in America, marsh hawk. See Marsh hawk. -- Hen hawk (Zoöl.), one of several species of large hawks which capture hens; esp., the American red-tailed hawk (Buteo borealis), the red-shouldered hawk (B. lineatus), and the goshawk.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

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