wonder. chicken.

OED Entries Matched
4 entries found.

wonder ('wVnd@(r)), sb. Forms: 1 wundor, 2-5 wunder, (3 wnder, Orm. wunnderr, 4 wondere, wonþer), 4-5 wondre, wondur, wondire, -yr(e, wundyr, 4-6 wundir, woundir, -er, Sc. vounder, vondir, 4-6, 8 Sc. wondir, (5 wundur, wonther, wonþur, 6 Sc. winder, -ir), 6-7 woonder, 8-9 Sc. wonner, 3- wonder. [OE. wundor neut. = OFris. wunder, OS. wundar, (M)Dutch wonder, OHG. wuntar (MHG., G. wunder), ONor. undr (Sw., Da. under): of unknown origin.]
I Something that causes astonishment.

1 a A marvellous object; a marvel, prodigy.the seven wonders of the world (= L. septem mira, miracula, or spectacula), the seven monuments regarded as the most remarkable structures of ancient times; so eighth wonder of the world (used hyperbolically of any impressive object, etc.); nine days' wonder, and allusive uses: see nine a. 3 a and 4 b.

Beowulf 840 Ferdon folcto&asg.an..&asg.eond widwe&asg.as wundor sceawian, laþes lastas. C. 700 Cædmon Hymn 3 Sue he uundra &asg.ihuaes..or astelidæ. A. 1000 Sal. & Sat. 281 Ac hwæt is ðæt wundor ðe &asg.eond ðas worold færeð, styrnenga gæð? C. 1205 Lay. 21738 Þa..gunnen to fleonnen..into þan watere, þer wunderes beoð ino3e. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 151 Mirabilia Anglie. Þre wondres beþ in engelond,..Þat water of baþe is þat on, þat euere is iliche hot. 1297 R. Glouc. 155 Vpe þe plein of salesbury þat oþer wonder is Þat ston heng is icluped. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 43 For þey schulde..write and certifie þe senatoures where and what wondres were i-founde. 1591 Shaks. Two Gent. i. i. 6, I rather would entreat thy company, To see the wonders of the world abroad. 1592 Shaks. Rom. & Jul. iii. iii. 36 Carrion Flies..may seaze On the white wonder of deare Iuliets hand. 1616 R. Cocks Diary (Hakl. Soc.) I. 194, I doo esteem it [sc. the idol] to be bigger then that at Roads, which was taken for 1 of the 7 wonders of the world. 1681 [see Peak sb.1 3]. 1712-14 Pope Rape Lock. i. 142 The fair..Repairs her smiles,..And calls forth all the wonders of her face. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) I. 267 All the wonders of the Mediterranean sea are described in much higher colours than they merit. 1831 M. Edgeworth Let. 20 Jan. (1971) 473 A..spoiled child of 30 whose mother and father having not been able to conceal from him that they think him the 8th wonder of the world have at last brought him to acquiesce in their opinion. 1878 Browning La Saisiaz 71 We must have our journey marge Ample for the wayside wonders.1930 Amer. Speech VI. Eighth wonder of the world... Ford runabout. 1977 H. Fast Immigrants iv. 267, I rode the first cable car on California Street... The Eighth Wonder of the World.
b Marvellous character or quality; wonderfulness; marvels collectively. (Cf. marvel sb.1 2 c.)

C. 1220 Bestiary 266 Zet is wunder of ðis wirm [sc. the ant] More ðanne man weneð. 1605 Shaks. Macb. i. v. 6 Whiles I stood rapt in the wonder of it, came Missiues from the King. 1610 Shaks. Temp. v. i. 181 Mir. O wonder! How many goodly creatures are there heere? 1613 Shaks. Hen. VIII, v. v. 41 As when The Bird of Wonder dyes, the Mayden Phoenix, Her Ashes new create another Heyre. 1667 Milton P.L. vii. 70 Great things, and full of wonder in our eares. 1738 Gray Tasso 35 Great things and full of wonder in your ears I shall unfold. 1801 'Monk' Lewis ('title) Tales of Wonder. 1842 Tennyson Locksley Hall 16 When I dipt into the future..Saw the Vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be. 1872 Black Adv. Phaeton ix. 129 We went out into the bright wonder of the moonlight.
c (transf. from 7.) The object of astonishment (usually implying profound admiration) for a particular country, people, age, or the like.world's wonder: the Marvel of Peru. wonder of the world, the ginseng, Panax Shinseng (Treas. Bot. 1866).

1591 Shaks. 1 Hen. VI, iv. vii. 48 Hack their bones assunder, Whose life was Englands glory, Gallia's wonder. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. xi. §1 The bewtie whereof..was such, that euen this was..the wonder of the whole world. 1607 Ld. Coke's Sp. & Charge F, This Sea-Inuyrond-Iland, the beauty, and wonder of the world. 1639 Mayne City Match i. iv, She's the wonder of the Court, And talke oth' Towne. 1671 Milton P.R. iii. 280 Babylon the wonder of all tongues. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Marvel of Peru, a kind of Night-shade..with Flowers of such Variety that it is also call'd The World's Wonder. 1733 Pope Ep. Cobham 180 Wharton, the scorn and wonder of our days. 1831 E. Burton Eccles. Hist. vii. 205 In Ephesus this feeling found an additional vent in the pride of having their temple considered the wonder of the world.
d A marvellous specimen or example (of something); in Sc. used contemptuously. boneless wonder, a gymnast; fig., someone or something lacking `backbone'; chinless wonder: see chinless a. b.

1721 Bradley Philos. Acc. Wks. Nat. 182 In this Wonder of a Garden there is neither Grass-work nor Gravel. 1786 Burns Twa Dogs 65 Our Whipper-in, wee blastit wonner, Poor worthless elf. 1855 Kingsley Westw. Ho! xxiii, But surely she was a very wonder of beauty! 1898 Atlantic Monthly LXXXII. 499/2 It was a wonder of beauty,..the fairest piece of earth my eye ever rested upon.1931 W. S. Churchill in Hansard Commons 28 Jan. 1022, I remember, when I was a child, being taken to the celebrated Barnum's Circus... The exhibit on the programme which I most desired to see was the one described as `The Boneless Wonder'. My parents judged that that spectacle would be too revolting and demoralising for my youthful eyes, and I have waited 50 years to see the boneless wonder sitting on the Treasury Bench. 1946 Boy wonder [see Chattertonian a. and sb.]. 1951 'J. Tey' Daughter of Time xiv. 186 The spectacle of Dr. Gairdner trying to make his facts fit his theory was the most entertaining thing in gymnastics that Grant had witnessed... As a contortionist Dr. Gairdner was the original boneless wonder. 1963 Guardian 15 Feb. 20/6 One of those boneless wonders that go by the name of `Observer' editorials. 1967 M. Shulman Kill 3 iv. ii. 168 Reconciling more contradictory positions than could be broken up by a boneless wonder on a trapeze.
e U.S. A kind of cake; = cruller.

1848 Drake Pioneer Life in Kentucky (1870) 97 Other dainties awaited us as the result of killing hogs. They were `dough-nuts' and `wonders'. 1859 Mrs. Stowe Minister's Wooing iv. 34 A plate of crullers or wonders, as a sort of sweet fried cake was commonly called.
2 a A deed performed or an event brought about by miraculous or supernatural power; a miracle. to do or work wonders, to perform miracles. arch.

C. 950 Lindisf. Gosp. John ii. 11 Ðis uorhte frumma ðara uundra se hælend in ðær byri&asg.. 971 Blickl. Hom. 15 Eal þæt folc þe þis wundor &asg.eseah, his noman myccledon. C. 1200 Ormin 9499 Crist..wrohhte wunndre miccle ma þann icc 3uw ma33 nu tellenn. C. 1275 Passion our Lord 60 in O.E. Misc. 39 Hi seyden..Alle his wndres þat he doþ is þurch þene vend. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 125 By wycchecraft he schal wirche wondres. C. 1400 Maundev. (Roxb.) xi. 43 With þat ilke 3erde Moyses..didd many wonders. C. 1450 Holland Howlat 785 He couth werk wounderis quhat way that he wald. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 3 For they se hym in his great myracles & wonders. 1562 Win3et Cert. Tractatis ii. Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 17 He send His Apostolis and seuinty-twa Discipulis..geuand thaim also power to wyrk wounderis. 1591 Shaks. 1 Hen. VI, v. iv. 48 You iudge it straight a thing impossible To compasse Wonders, but by helpe of diuels. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacræ ii. iii. §6 That doctrine which was confirmed by undoubted miracles, hath assured us of the coming of lying wonders. 1781 Cowper Expost. 155 They saw distemper heal'd, and life restor'd,..Confess'd the wonder. 1846 Trench Mirac. 6 The healing of the paralytic..was a wonder, for `they were all amazed'.
†b An extraordinary natural occurrence, esp. when regarded as supernatural or taken as an omen or portent. Chiefly pl. Obs.

1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 8612 Wanne me sede him of suche wondres þat god on erþe sende Þat it was vor is luþernesse to trufle he it wende. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 4004 For wonders þat shuld falle, als I trow, Agayn þe worldes hende er sene now. C. 1400 Destr. Troy 11827 When he wist of thies wondres, thies wordes he said: `Yonder towne wilbe takon in a tyme short.' 1513 Douglas Æneis viii. viii. 36 We haue bot sobir pissance, and no wonder, To help in battale. 1560 Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 422 He rekened vp the wonders that went before his death. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 13 Mony sygnes be God war schawne and wonndiris. 1655 Stanley Hist. Philos. ii. iii. (1687) 66/1 Of the Wonder [sc. a meteor] Aristotle gives a very slight account. 1681 Dryden Abs. & Achit. i. 320 My Father Governs with unquestion'd Right;..And Heav'n by Wonders has espous'd his Cause.
3 A marvellous act or achievement. to work, do, or perform wonders: to do marvellous acts or bring about marvellous results; hence gen. to do surprising things.

C. 1220 Bestiary 398 Listneð nu a wunder, Ðat tis der [sc. the fox] doð for hunger. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 5 This bok schal afterward ben ended Of love, which doth many a wonder. 1390 Gower Conf. 136 With strengthe he [sc. Nebuchadnezzar] putte kinges under, And wroghte of Pride many a wonder. 1471 Caxton Recuyell (Sommer) 378 In this bataill hercules dide wondres & meruailles. 1591 Shaks. 1 Hen. VI, i. i. 122 Where valiant Talbot..Enacted wonders with his Sword and Lance. 1660 F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 295 Don Sebastian did wonders in his own person, but overpowred with number, he [etc.]. 1727 E. Laurence Duty of Steward 207 Lay on Twenty Loads of Chalk alone upon an Acre, and it will perform wonders. 1731 in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. i. 270 The Millypedes or Wood-lice have a sulphureous spirit in them wch I have known do wonders on weak constitutions. 1784 Cowper Tiroc. 23 For her the fancy, roving unconfin'd,..Works magic wonders. 1784 Cowper Task iv. 87 Katterfelto, with his hair on end At his own wonders. 1827 Disraeli Viv. Grey v. vi, Inspired by your Ladyship's approbation, my steward has really done wonders. 1834 L. Ritchie Wand. Seine 192 Habit effects wonders.
4 a gen. An astonishing occurrence, event, or fact; a surprising incident; a wonderful thing.to hear, read, speak, talk wonders, to hear, etc., surprising accounts.

1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 319 A temple hii vovnde vair inou & a maumet amidde Þat ofte tolde wonder gret & 3wat men bitidde. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 67 Who that wolde ensample take..Of many a wondre hiere he mihte. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvi. xlviii. (1495) L iij b/1 Gete..is kyndled in water and quenchid in oyle: and that is wonder. A. 1425 Cursor M. 11 (Trin.) Man 3ernen..romaunce rede..Of kyng Arthour..Of wondris þat his kny3tes felle. 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. 47 b, I ought..not turne my tale to talke of Robbyn Hoode,..or to speake wounders of the man in the Mone. 1598 Shaks. Merry W. v. i. 13 Bee you in the Parke about midnight, at Hernes-Oake, and you shall see wonders. 1604 E. G[rimstone] tr. D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iii. xvi. 171 Some of these Lakes be very hote, which is another wonder. 1611 Beaum. & Fl. Philaster ii. i, The love of boyes unto their Lords is strange, I have read wonders of it. 1686 tr. Chardin's Trav. Persia 136 They talk Wonders of her Beauty. 1784 Cowper Task iv. 563 The chilling tale Of midnight murder was a wonder..told to frighten babes. 1823 Scott Quentin D. xix, Why should you make a wonder of my wearing the badge of my company? 1890 Hartland Science of Fairy Tales i. (1891) 1 The weary hunters beguile the long silence of a desert night with the mirth and wonders of a tale.
†b app. = miracle sb. 4. Obs.

1435 Misyn Fire of Love 5 No3t standyng in ydilnes, nor to plays no wondyrs rynnynge.
†5 a Evil or shameful action; evil; pl. evil or horrible deeds. Obs.

1154 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1137, I ne can ne i ne mai tellen alle þe wunder ne alle þe pines ðæt hi diden wrecce men on þis land. C. 1200 Vices & Virtues 15 Ic ne mai rimen..alle ðo sennes,..ne alle ðo wundren ðe ich, wrecche senfulle, habbe idon. A. 1225 Ancr. R. 72 Moni mon weneð to don wel þat he deð alto cweade [MS. C. wunder]. C. 1250 Gen. & Ex. 69 Pride made angel deuel dwale, Ðat made..euerilc wunder, and euerilc wo. C. 1250 Gen. & Ex. 3588. A. 1300 K. Horn 1440 (Cott.) Fykenild me haþ gon vnder Ant do rymenild sum wonder.
†b Destruction, disaster. Obs.

C. 1205 Lay. 7855 Þa scipen wenden to wundre oðer half hundred. C. 1205 Lay. 12590 Heo slo3en þer muchel wunder, twa & fifti hundred. 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 16 Bretayn..Where werre, & wrake, & wonder Bi syþez has wont þer-inne.
†c Great distress or grief. Obs.

1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 5262 Yn þe put..He sagh so moche sorowe and wundyr, Of fendes fele þat þere wore. ? C. 1430 Syr Tryam. 190 (Percy Fo.), Of this..I haue great wonder; for sorrow my hart will breake assunder. A. 1600 Northumberland Betrayed by Douglas ii. in Child Ball. III. 411 As woe and wonder be them amonge!
6 Phraseological uses. †a to wonder: dreadfully, horribly, terribly. (Cf. sense 5.) Obs.

C. 1000 Ælfric Saints' Lives xxiii. 654 Ealle men hine fram stowe to stowe brudon and to wundre tawedon. C. 1230 Hali Meid. (1922) 23 Leccherie seið `schome þe menske of þi meidenhad,' & tukeð hire to wundre [v.r. al to wundre]. A. 1300 Cursor M. 22606 Heuen he sal se part in sundre, And he sal here it cri to wonder.
b to a wonder, in early use also †to wonder [after F. à merveille], marvellously, wonderfully, marvellously well. Obs. or arch.

1661 Glanvill Van. Dogm. 175 The unparallel'd Des-Cartes hath unridled their dark Physiology, and to wonder solv'd their Motions. 1698 Crowne Caligula iv, Y'are to a wonder fair. A. 1700 Evelyn Diary 27 Jan. 1658, Sentences in Latin and Greeke, which on occasion he would produce even to wonder. 1751 Female Foundling II. 11 He is better to a Wonder. 1792 Cowper Let. to Carwardine 11 June, His motives were not, nor could be, of the amorous kind, for she was ugly to a wonder. 1828 Lytton Pelham xxxi, I have flattered him to a wonder! 1843 Thackeray Mr. & Mrs. Berry ii, He ties his white neckcloth to a wonder.
†c to think wonder [think v.1] (const. dative of person): to seem a matter of astonishment (to); hence, of the person, to be astonished, to marvel, wonder. So, rarely, to think it wonder, [think v.2] to be amazed at it. Obs.

971 Blickl. Hom. 33 Þonne ne þincþ us þæt nan wundor. C. 1000 Ælfric Hom. II. 484 Wundor me ðincð eower ðingræden. C. 1200 Ormin 218 All þe follc..þuhhte mikell wunnderr forrwhi þe preost swa lannge wass..att Godess allterr. A. 1225 Ancr. R. 8 Zif him þuncheð wunder & selkuð of swuch onswere. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 1786 Of þe dede here men may thynk wonder, For alle thyng it brestes in sonder. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. iii. 176 Whi þou wraþþest þe now wonder me þinkeþ. A. 1586 Montgomerie Misc. Poems xl. 54 Quhat Natur works, we may not think it wonder.
d it (or †that) is (was, were, etc.) no wonder: it is (etc.) not surprising; usually with dependent that- or if-clause. Similarly, it is †great, little, small wonder, it is very, not very surprising; it is (a) wonder, wonder it is, it is wonderful.†a wonder is to speak, it is surprising to tell..†make it no wonder, do not be surprised at it.

A. 900 Cynewulf Crist 1016 Forþon nis æni&asg. wundor hu him woruldmonna seo unclæne &asg.ecynd cearum sor&asg.ende hearde ondrede. C. 1175 Lamb. Hom. 23 Hit nis nan wunder þah mon sune3ie oðer hwile unwaldes, ah hit is muchele mare wunder 3if he nule nefre swiken. C. 1200 Ormin 9327 & tatt nass wunnderr þwerrt ut nan þatt he wass wis o lare. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 378, & lute wonder it was Þat strange men in is owe lond dude a such trespas. 13.. Cursor M. 746 (Gött.) Wonþer was hu he þider wan. C. 1320 Sir Tristr. 2215 Sore him greued his vene, As it no wonder nes. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. v. 102 Zif schrift schulde hit þenne swopen out, a gret wonder hit were. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 382 Though god his grace caste aweie No wondir is. A. 1400-50 Wars Alex. 811 Þare slike wirschip he wan ware wonder to tell. C. 1400 Brut i. 1 Þere þey lyved in ioy and merthe y-now, that it was wonder to wete. C. 1520 Skelton Magnyf. 85 And it is wonder that your wylde Insolence Can be content with Measure presence. C. 1540 tr. Pol. Verg. Engl. Hist. (Camden No. 29) 50 He went.. to the duke of Bedforde, whose arrivall, a wonder is to speake, how much it encouraged his owne frendes. C. 1560 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) ii. 167 For he affeird, it wes na winder, His cursour suld him cast. 1579 W. Fulke Heskins' Parl. 168 It was a woonder, howe the corporall nature passed through the impenetrable body. 1596 Shaks. Tam. Shr. iii. ii. 193, I must away to day before night come, Make it no wonder. 1600 E. Blount tr. Conestaggio 268 It was therefore no woonder, if without the kings consent..he attempted many things. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. iii. xxxv. 219 It were a wonder there is no greater notice taken of it. 1673 Vinegar & Mustard (1873) 19 That's a wonder you have none of your trollops with you. 1706 E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 100 If he has a Reversion clear of Incumbrances, it's a Wonder. 1741 Warburton Div. Legat. vi. vi. II. 639 It is no Wonder his Arguments should look asquint. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones iii. iv, `No Man is wise at all Hours'; it is therefore no Wonder that a Boy is not so. 1860 Thackeray Lovel ii, You consume more tea than all my family,..and as much sugar and butter-well, it's no wonder you are bilious!
e Without verb, esp. in no wonder that, if, or though; similarly, small wonder that (etc.), what wonder if..? Also interjectionally in (and) no wonder!, and what wonder!Cf. L. nimirum, Gr. ou' qauma, qauma ou'de´n.

1390 Gower Conf. I. 100 No wonder thogh he siketh ofte. A. 1400 Pistill of Susan 201 And heo wepte for wo, no wonder, I wene. C. 1400 T. Chestre Launfal 204 No wonther dough me smerte. C. 1440 Promp. Parv. 360/1 Nowundyr, (P. nowonder), nimirum. 1513 Douglas Æneis iii. viii. 103 Na wondir, this is the selcouth Caribdis. 1611 Shaks. Cymb. iii. vi. 11 Will poore Folkes lye..? Yes; no wonder, When Rich ones scarse tell true. 1667 Milton P.L. iii. 606 What wonder then if fields and regions here Breathe forth Elixir pure. 1795-6 Wordsw. Borderers ii. 812 Her. I was alarmed. Mar. No wonder; this is a place That well may put some fears into your heart. 1853 Dickens Bleak Ho. iv, Pa's miserable, and no wonder! 1862 H. Kingsley Ravenshoe xviii, She has given her honest little heart away-and what wonder! 1891 Farrar Darkn. & Dawn xxxix, No wonder Nero loves her better than that pale sad lady who sits among the six Vestals. 1913 H. L. Jackson Eschatol. Jesus 6 If `the great authorities differ' small wonder that weaker minds are in doubt.
f the wonder is.., what is surprising is...

1605 Shaks. Lear v. iii. 316 Edg. He is gon indeed. Kent. The wonder is, he hath endur'd so long. 1842 Dickens Amer. Notes xi, The wonder is, not that there should be so many fatal accidents, but that any journey should be safely made. 1856 Miss Yonge Daisy Chain i. iv, The only wonder was, that it had not happened sooner.
g for a wonder: as an instance of a surprising fact; strange to say.

1782 Boswell Jrnl. 16 July in Boswell, Laird of Auchinleck (1977) 456 While she was out, my father and Lady Auchinleck called, for a wonder. 1811 Princess Charlotte Let. 13 Nov. (1949) 12 Soon for a wonder I plucked up courage & went in.1856 Reade Never too Late xxxvi, For a wonder he was not sea-sick. 1881 Saintsbury Dryden vii. 145 For a wonder Dryden resists..his unhappy tendency to exaggerate the coarseness of his subjects.
h in the name of wonder: used with an interrogative word to give emphasis to a question; also colloq. or dial. shortened to the wonder.

1626 Massinger Roman Actor iv. ii, In the name of wonder, What's Cæsar's purpose? 1716 Addison Freeholder No. 9 p.12 What in the name of wonder do you mean? 1862 Mrs. H. Wood Mrs. Hallib. xxxv, How the wonder do you manage it? 1889 R. Bridges Feast of Bacchus iii. 814 Who in the name of wonder are these queer foreigners?
i wonders will never cease: that is indeed surprising; now freq. ironic.

1828 T. Creevey Let. 11 Feb. in Creevey's Life & Times (1934) xii. 258 Off he went with, `Well, Creevey, wonders will never cease!' I met Lord Bathurst at the Duke of Buccleuch's [etc.]. 1837 Dickens Pickwick Papers xlv. 489 Vonders vill never cease... I'm wery much mistaken if that 'ere Jingle worn't a doin' somethin' in the vatercart vay! 1902 Conrad Typhoon xxiv. 191 `Solomon says wonders will never cease,' cried Mrs. Rout joyously. 1962 M. Summerton Nightingale at Noon (1963) viii. 105, I offered: I'll help you...' She..gave me a cheeky grin. `Hear that! Wonders will never cease!' 1974 A. Price Other Paths to Glory i. vii. 88 Wonders will never cease... Early Tudor-practically untouched.
II 7 a The emotion excited by the perception of something novel and unexpected, or inexplicable; astonishment mingled with perplexity or bewildered curiosity. Also, the state of mind in which this emotion exists; †an instance of this, a fit of wonderment.

C. 1290 St. Dunstan 8 in S. Eng. Leg. 19 Þat folk stod al in gret wonder. 1382 Wyclif Luke v. 26 And greet wondir took alle men, and thei magnyfieden God. C. 1450 Mirk's Festial 18 When Thomas had soo ydo, anon he criet for wondyr and for fere. 1561 Hoby tr. Castiglione's Courtyer ii. (1577) K vij b, Then he turning about, and beholding him..with a wonder [orig. con marauiglia] stayed a while wythout any word. 1599 Shaks. Hen. V, ii. iv. 135 You'le find a diff'rence, As we his Subiects haue in wonder found. 1611 Bible Acts iii. 10 They were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened vnto him. 1659 Vulg. Err. Cens. 31 Galen was husht into a wonder by some anatomicall observations. 1667 Milton P.L. iii. 542 Satan..Looks down with wonder at the sudden view Of all this World at once. A. 1700 Evelyn Diary 23 Nov. 1690, Lord Godolphin, now resuming the commission of the Treasury to the wonder of all his friends. 1738 Gray Tasso 25 Fix'd in wonder stood the warlike pair. 1770 Goldsm. Des. Vill. 215 And still they gazed, and still the wonder grew, That one small head could carry all he knew. 1814 Cary Dante, Parad. xxxi. 31 The grim brood..Stood in mute wonder 'mid the works of Rome. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair lxv, Max and Fritz were at the door listening with wonder to Mrs. Becky's sobs and cries. 1870 Lowell Among my Books Ser. i. 143 The faculty of wonder is not defunct, but is only getting more and more emancipated from the unnatural service of terror.
†b to have wonder, to be greatly surprised; to marvel: = wonder v. 1, 2. Obs.

A. 1300 Cursor M. 17288 + 171 It was our lordez ordinans, for-þi no wonder has. 1375 Barbour Bruce iii. 485 And quhen he hard sa blaw & cry, He had wondir quhat it mycht be. C. 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints x. (Mathou) 121 All þat harde hyme, 3ald or 3ynge, Had wondyre þat sik grace suld be In ony manne. 1470-85 Malory Arthur i. xiv. 55 Thenne syre Arthur dyd so merueillously in armes that all men had wondyr. 1500-20 Dunbar Poems lxxxi. 37 Thay saw that I nocht glaidder wax of cheir, And thairof had thai winder.
†c Profound admiration. Obs.

A. 1586 Sidney Apol. Poetry (Arb.) 19 To so vnbeleeued a poynt hee proceeded, as that no earthly thing bred such wonder to a Prince, as to be a good horseman. 1588 Shaks. L.L.L. iv. ii. 117 All ignorant that soule, that sees thee without wonder. 1605 Shaks. Macb. i. iii. 92 His Wonders and his Prayses doe contend, Which should be thine, or his. 1607 Bp. Hall Holy Observ. i. xx. (1609) 32 No man hath beene so exquisite, but some haue detracted from him, euen in those quallities which haue seemed most worthy of wonder to others.
8 [f. wonder v. 2.] A state of wondering (whether, etc.). rare.

1853 Mrs. Gaskell Ruth xix, Many profound secrets..most of which related to their wonders if Jemima and Mr. Farquhar would ever be married. 1889 'J. S. Winter' Mrs. Bob iv. (1891) 45 Haunted by..a wonder whether he would find his way to St. Eve's.
III attrib. and Comb.

9 Simple attrib. (sometimes passing into adj.). a = `that is a wonder, marvel, or prodigy', as wonder-avenue, -beauty, boy, -child (after G. wunderkind), drug, -flower, -gleam, goal, -horse, -look, -night, -sight (after G. wundergesicht), -treasure, -woman.

1838 Longf. in Life (1891) I. 293 The great wonder-flowers bloom but once in a lifetime; as marriage and death. 1845 J. C. Mangan German Anthol. I. 185 But, lo! a wonder-sight!-Ere long Rose, blooming,..The fairest lily ever seen. 1866 Howells Venetian Life viii. 120 That wonder-avenue of palaces [the Grand Canal]. 1890 'R. Boldrewood' Miner's Right xli, You..discover so many wonder-treasures..that you will never consent to return. 1890 'R. Boldrewood' Col. Reformer xviii, A Pharos, a wonder-sign, an exemplar throughout all the civilised world. 1896 Catholic Mag. May 258 Hermann Cohen, by reason of his marvellous piano-playing, was looked upon as a `wonder-child'.1921 D. H. Lawrence Sea & Sardinia v. 210 Real fresh wonder-beauty all around. 1922 D. H. Lawrence Aaron's Rod xviii. 269 The glimmer of the open flower, the wonderlook, still lasted. 1927 E. O'Neill Marco Millions iii. i. 167 Worth while your waiting, eh?.. Yes, my wonder boy! 1927 A. Conan Doyle Case-Bk. Sherlock Holmes 15 A wonder-woman in every way. 1929 R. Bridges Test. Beauty iv. 188 The shifting hues that sanctify the silent dawn with wonder-gleams. 1938 Encycl. Brit. Bk. of Year 38/2 The one signed work in the series..was the wonder-child of the project. 1939 Time 14 Aug. 50/2 Sulfanilamide, the `wonder drug', introduced into the U.S. in 1936, is credited with remarkable cures. 1939 Wonder horse [see second-guesser]. 1939 Joyce Finnegans Wake 395 You know her, our angel being, one of romance's fadeless wonderwomen. 1948 Wonder drug [see subtilin]. 1958 P. Scott Mark of Warrior i. 82 Old Ramsay's something of a wonder boy. He'll be top cadet of the course. 1975 Daily Tel. 18 June 2/8 Experts..began work on the vaccines following the failure of the post-war `wonder drugs' such as sulphonamides and penicillin to wipe out these two diseases. 1976 West Lancs. Evening Gaz. 15 Dec. i. 4/7 He scored a superb hat trick with a wonder goal to round it off. 1976 Liverpool Echo 23 Nov. 7/1 Southport's golden sands, world famous as the training track of wonderhorse Red Rum. 1980 'R. B. Dominic' Attending Physician xiv. 117 Senator Gerald Ewell was a Democrat... `What's Wonder Boy done this time?' demanded Tony. 1980 I. Hunter Malcolm Muggeridge iv. 59 Various bizarre proposals to sort out and rearrange our genes so that everyone will become superman and wonderwoman. 1985 Times 2 Jan. 15/2 The word from the market is that a replacement `wonder drug' is now in clinical trials.
b = `of wonder or wonders', as wonder-book, -city, -life, -literature, song, -story, -tale, -world (cf. G. wunderwelt).

1851 Hawthorne (title) A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys, (including `Tanglewood Tales'). 1851 H. Melville Whale i. 7 The great flood-gates of the wonder-world swung open. 1854 Zoologist XII. 4487 A kind of wonder-story in zoology. 1865 Tylor Early Hist. Man. vi. 144 The native wonder-tales must only be told in the winter. 1881 Tylor Anthropol. 380 It is known to be only a version of the..wonder-tale told by Herodotus. 1895 Kipling Seven Seas (1896) 84 The everlasting Wonder Song of Youth! 1896 Tablet 15 Feb. 257 That Asiatic wonder-world, the Indian Empire. 1896 J. Davidson Fleet St. Ecl. Ser. ii. 78 To wonder-worlds of old romance Our aching thoughts for solace run. 1905 Roosevelt Outdoor Pastimes xi. 339 To read and enjoy the wonder-book of nature. 1907 Westm. Gaz. 14 Sept. 6/2 All our wonder-literature. 1907 Westm. Gaz. 20 Sept. 2/1 Everything in that wonder-city [sc. Fez] was so like a half-remembered dream.1929 R. Bridges Test. Beauty iii. 105 With what other numberless wonder-lives of the Saints they wrote.
c = `miraculous, magic, magical', as wonder-offspring, -staff (cf. G. wunderstab magic wand), -stroke.

1846 Trench Mirac. Introd. iv. §3. 46 By a mighty wonder-stroke of grace the polarity in the man is shifted. 1846 Trench Mirac. xxix. 421 note, Introd. iv. §3. 46 Sometimes [in early Christian art] he [sc. Jesus] is touching with his wonder-staff the head of Lazarus. 1907 N. & Q. 10th Ser. VIII. 208/2 The belief in such wonder-offspring was once as common in Europe.
10 a Objective and obj. genitive, as wonder-bearing, -exciting, -hiding, -loving, -promising, -raising, -seeking, -stirring, -writing adjs.; †wonders-doing adj.; wonder-hider, -seeker; wonder-worth, -worthy adjs; instrumental, as wonder-dumb, -fed, -ridden, -smit, -stricken, -struck, †-strucken, -wide, -wounded adjs.; wonder-beaming, -striking, -teeming, -waiting adjs.; †wonder-rap [rap v.3], -strike vbs.

1799 Campbell Pleas. Hope i. 130 Wilt thou, with him [sc. Newton],..watch the shrine with *wonder-beaming eye? 1552 Huloet, *Wonders doynge, mirificus. 1898 Hardy Wessex Poems 167 Shy birds stood Watching us, *wonder-dumb. 1855 Milman Lat. Christ. xiv. ii. (1864) IX. 77 This *wonder-fed and wonder-seeking worship. 1831 Carlyle Sart. Res. iii. viii, The deceptions, and *wonder-hiding stupefactions, which Space practises on us. 1851 Zoologist IX. 3167 The *wonder-loving and credulous Northmen. 1817 Coleridge Biog. Lit. viii. (Bohn) 64 The *wonder-promising Matter, that was to perform all these marvels. 1813 Coleridge Remorse Epil. 28 Saintly hermits' *wonder-raising acts. 1612 J. Davies Muses Sacrif. Wks. (Grosart) II. 27/2 O sight of force to *wonder-rap all Eyes! 1791 Cowper Odyssey vi. 199 *Wonder-rapt I gaze. 1916 D. H. Lawrence Amores 76, I see each shadow start with recognition, and I Am *wonder-ridden. 1599 T. M[oufet] Silkwormes 53 Then list a while, you *wonder-seekers great. 1856 Froude Hist. Eng. I. iv. 296 The phenomena known to modern wonder-seekers as those of somnambulism or clairvoyance. 1855 *Wonder-seeking [see wonder-fed]. 1615 Sylvester Job Triumph. iii. 99 Therefore, before Him, am I *wonder-smit. 1799 Cupid & Psyche 33 He'll tell the *wonder-stirring tales. 1818 Shelley Laon & Cythna v. xliii. 114 The morning's golden mist, Which now the *wonder-stricken breezes kist With their cold lips, fled. 1855 Singleton Virgil I. 51 At whose lay wonder-stricken were the pards. 1856 Hawthorne Engl. Note-bks. (1870) II. 65 The..mysterious plan which perplexes and *wonder-strikes me in most cathedrals. 1644 Vicars God in Mount 4 The memorable and *wonder-striking Parliamentarie-mercies. 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. ii. i. Noah 597 Ashamed, *wonder-strook. 1638-56 Cowley Davideis iv. 855 If wonder-strook I at your words appear, My wonder yet is Innocent of Fear. 1796 Mme. D'Arblay Camilla ii. xiii, [She] seemed wonder-struck, without knowing why. 1817 Malthus Popul. II. 210 Great and astonishing as this difference is, we ought not to be so wonder-struck at it. 1628 Mure Doomesday 562 *Wonder-strucken wights. 1798 Southey Blenheim v, With *wonder-waiting eyes. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 530 Milly Bloom..calls, her young eyes *wonderwide. 1864 Browning Dram. Pers., Abt Vogler 44 Had I painted the whole, Why, there it had stood, to see, nor the process so *wonder-worth. 1622 Middleton Honour & Virtue Wks. (Bullen) VII. 361 Which is not the least *wonder-worthy note. 1905 G. Blount Rustic Renaiss. i. 10 [This] is in itself a wonder-worthy paradox. 1602 Shaks. Ham. v. i. 280 Like *wonder-wounded hearers. 1603 in J. Davies Microcosmos Wks. (Grosart) I. 103/1 His *wonder-writing Hand.
b advb., = `wonderfully'. (After G. wundergross, wunderschön, etc.; cf. wonder adv.) wonder-fine.

1872 J. Payne Songs Life & Death 214 Oh, wonder-lovely maidens were the seven! 1903 Westm. Gaz. 14 Feb. 2/1 Oh, how wonder-beautiful! 1904 Westm. Gaz. 12 Feb. 2/3 Delicate wonder-white crystals.1929 R. Bridges Test. Beauty i. 29 Not to these look we with grateful pleasur or satisfaction of soul, wonder-fine tho' they be.
11 Special comb.: wonder-bag, a Negro amulet, = obeah 1; wonder-horn, (a) a cornucopia of marvels; (b) a magical horn; wonder-man, a wonder-worker; also in weakened sense, a man whose achievements are admired; †wonder-master, a magician; †wonder-maze v. intr. and trans., to be amazed, or to amaze, with wonder; wonder rabbi, in the Chasidic movement, a tsaddik; Wonder State U.S., a nickname for the state of Arkansas.

1793 Wolcot (P. Pindar) Ep. the Pope Wks. 1812 III. 209 Quako..full of negro faith in conjuration, Loaded his jackass deep with *wonder-bags Of Monkeys' teeth, glass, horsehair, and red rags. 1864 Lowell Fireside Trav. 178 Their world was a huge *wonder-horn. 1906 Edin. Rev. Jan. 231 Was it that the wonder-horn was still echoing from the far-off, summoning the man..to the soul-roads? 1883 Stallybrass tr. Grimm's Teut. Mythol. III. 1232 He was the greatest magician or *wonder-man of them all. 1901 Daily News 9 Feb. 6/1 Cornelius Drebbel, `the wonder-man of Alkmaar'. 1933 Amer. Speech VIII. iii. 39/2 Wonderman. Foreign fighters are often thus described [by sports writers]. 1935 Wodehouse Luck of Bodkins xv. 173 They get the idea that they are sort of wonder-men who can just look around and find talent where nobody else would suspect it. 1961 Catholic Herald 23 June 3/1 (heading) De Gaulle, hero and wonderman. 1962 A. Sampson Anat. of Britain xxvii. 450 In Whitehall he had the reputation of a wonderman, and had even been tipped by some as an eventual head of the Treasury. 1603 Harsnet Pop. Impost. 57 This foule *wonder-maister is too full of wonders euer to be good. 1603 in J. Davies Microcosmos Wks. (Grosart) I. 7/2 Men did *wonder-maze, Which wonderment, this later worke of thine (Not by detracting from it) doth deface. A. 1618 J. Davies Wit's Pilgr. ibid. II. 51/1 Hee taught..Rights Ruines to repaire..with Words, that wonder-mazed men. 1907 I. Zangwill Ghetto Comedies 409 We Chassidim have no fear. Our *wonder-rabbi has power over all the spheres. 1970 C. Kersh Aggravations of Minnie Ashe i. 11 [Her] father had been a wonder rabbi in some obscure Jewish village in Galicia-a worker of miracles. 1923 Gen. Acts Arkansas 804 Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Arkansas... That hereafter Arkansas shall be known and styled `The *Wonder State'.


†'wonder, a. Obs. Forms: see prec. [repr. OE. wundor wonder sb. in compounds, as wundorcræft marvellous skill or power, wundordæ´d miracle, wundortácen wondrous sign, miracle, prodigy (so OS. wundarquâla extreme torment, OHG. wuntarsiht `spectaculum', MHG., G. wundertat miracle, ONor. undrsjón spectacle, etc.; see also wonder thing); cf. the similar origin of main a., and see wonders a.] Wonderful, wondrous, marvellous. on or in (a) wonder wise, wonderfully (cf. MLG. wunderwî.s(e adv.). See also wonder thing, wonder-work.
A. 1175 Cott. Hom. 235 He cweð a wunder word to þar sawle bi þa witie ysaiam. C. 1205 Lay. 1147 Heo dude wnder craftes. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 6919 Þat folc com þikke amorwe to se þis wonder dede. 1297 R. Glouc. 8593 Þe sixte 3er þer com also a wel wonder cas. C. 1350 Will. Palerne 1873 So wonder a wilde best þat weldes no mynde. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 1095 So sodanly on a wonder wyse, I was war of a prosessyoun. C. 1374 Chaucer Troylus i. 419 Allas what is þis wonder maladye. C. 1382 Pol. Poems (Rolls) I. 250 This warnynges beoth wonder and feole. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. ii. 126 In wonderwyse holy wryt tellith how þei fullen. A. 1400 Hymns Virg. (1895) 46 Wiyn of watir he makiþ blyue, And dooþ manye a wondir dede. C. 1425 Engl. Conq. Irel. 130 About that tyme, befel a wonder aduentur yn a wodde of Myth. C. 1425 Seven Sag. (P.) 2643 Thou schalt telle me of that cas; Hyt hys the wounderest that ever I herde. 1470-85 Malory Arthur xvii. i. 689 He passed by a Castel where was a wonder turnement. A. 1529 Skelton E. Rummyng 73 With clothes vpon her hed..Wrythen in wonder wyse, After the Sarasyns gyse. 1535 Coverdale 2 Chron. xxxii. 24 And he prayed vnto the Lorde, which made him promes, and gaue him a wonder-token. C. 1590 Greene Fr. Bacon iv. 58 And, wonder Vandermast, welcome to me.


wonder ('wVnd@(r)), v. Forms: 1 wundrian, 3-4 wondri, 4-5 woundre, 4-6 wondre, wondir, (3 wundren, wundre, wndre, wundrie, wondry, Orm. wunndrenn, 4 wondur, 5 wondyr, wundur, wunderon, wonderyn), 5-6 wunder, wounder, -ir, 6-7 woonder, 4- wonder. [OE. wundrian = OS. wundrôn, (M)Dutch wonderen, OHG. wuntarôn (MHG., G. wundern), ONor. undra (Sw. undra, Da. undre): f. wonder sb.]
1 intr. To feel or be affected with wonder; to be struck with surprise or astonishment, to marvel. Also occas. to express wonder in speech. a in OE. const. genitive of the object of wonder, also with preps., now nearly always at, occas. over, formerly also on, upon, of.

C. 888 Ælfred Boeth. xxxiv. §10, Hwa mæ&asg. þæt he ne wundrie swelcra &asg.esceafta ures scyppendes? 971 Blickl. Hom. 33 Nis þæt to wundri&asg.enne..þæt he acweald beon wolde. 971 Blickl. Hom. 153 He &asg.ehyrde heora þrowunga & he þa wundrode æfter þære &asg.esihþe. A. 1000 Phoenix 331 Ðonne wundriað weras ofer eorþan wlite & wæstma. C. 1000 Ags. Gosp. Mark vi. 2 Mane&asg.e &asg.ehyrdon & wundrodon on his lare. C. 1200 Ormin 7633 Josæp..& Mar3e..wundredenn baþe off all þatt hemm wass cwiddedd tære off Criste. A. 1250 Owl & Night 228 Þu fli3st a ni3t and no3t a-dai, Þar-of ich wndri. C. 1250 Gen. & Ex. 3716 Zetenisse men ben in ebron, Quilc men mai 3et wundren on. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 5353 In lepes & in coufles so moche viss hii ssolleþ hom bringe, Þat ech mon ssal wondry of so gret cacchinge. A. 1300 Cursor M. 18774 Godmen o galilee, apon quat thing sa wonder yee? C. 1386 Chaucer Sqr.'s T. 217 Somme of hem wondred on the Mirour..Hou men myghte in it swiche thynges se. C. 1430 Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 7599 Mirabel wondred of hir woo, Whi hir ladie ferd soo. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 125 b/1 All the peple drewe to hym and wondred on hym. 1529 More Dyaloge x. 16 b/2 We nothyng wonder at the ebbyng and flowyng of the see. 1590 Shaks. Mids. N. iv. i. 136, I wonder of this being heere together. A. 1600 Montgomerie Misc. Poems xxiv. 16 O, wareit be my weird, For wondring on a deitie divyne. 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 856 Hast thou not wonderd, Adam, at my stay? 1753 Richardson Grandison (1754) IV. 191, I wonder at you. 1780 Cowper Progr. Err. 191 Rufillus..Wonders at Clodio's follies, in a tone As tragical, as others at his own. 1818 J. W. Croker Jrnl. 7 Dec. in C. Papers (1884) I. iv. 123, I cannot but wonder at her living here and bearding the Prince in a way so indelicate. 1844 Emerson Lect. New Eng. Ref. Wks. (Bohn) I. 273 The unwise..wonders at what is unusual, the wise man wonders at the usual. 1919 B. Capes Skel. Key xvii. 213 His benevolent truthfulness was a thing to wonder over.
b with clause expressing the motive or object of wonder.

C. 1000 Ags. Gosp. Luke i. 21 Þæt folc wæs zachariam &asg.eanbidiende, & wundrodon þæt he on þam temple læt wæs. C. 1386, C. 1430 [see a]. 1553 Respublica 602 Nowe I doe lesse woonder that lost men, life to save, Ferre from lande dooe Laboure againste the roring wave. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 36 This causes men meruellouslie to wondir, that vndir that earth ar fund gret stokis..of wondirful akes and vthir tries. 1599 Shaks. Much Ado i. i. 117, I wonder that you will still be talking, signior Benedicke, no body markes you. 1671 Milton Samson 215, I oft have heard men wonder Why thou shouldst wed Philistian women rather Then of thine own Tribe fairer. 1676 in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 33, I wonder my father would not ease himselfe from his Haddon inquietudes by staying at Belvoire. 1708 Swift Bickerstaff Detected 5 A Third Rogue tips me by the Elbow, and wonders how I have the Conscience to sneak abroad. 1846 Greener Sci. Gunnery 133 We wonder the parties did not take a patent for the discovery. 1885 'Mrs. Alexander' At Bay vii, I wonder he is not more confidential with you.
c const. to with inf. (usually = at with gerund).

1604 E. G[rimstone] tr. D'Acosta's Hist. Indies iii. xix. 183 When wee goe..to the Indies, wee woonder to see the land so pleasant, greene and fresh. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 34 p.4 He wondered to hear a Man of his Sense talk after that Manner. 1798 Ferriar Illustr. Sterne, etc. 222 We cannot wonder to find a joint occasionally added to this part. 1840 Thackeray Pictorial Rhapsody Concl., Wks. 1900 XIII. 354 The drawing is executed in a manner so loose and slovenly that one wonders to behold it.
d in indirect passive (now only in to be wondered at as adj. or pred. phr.).

1532 More Confut. Barnes viii. Wks. 741/2 He had so monstrouslye dressed himself because he would be wondred on. 1549 Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. Rom. xii. 16-19 That to hymself..he seme a stoute felow and one to be wondered at. 1588 Shaks. L.L.L. v. ii. 266 Are these the breed of wits so wondered at? A. 1701 Maundrell Journ. Jerus. (1732) 28 Nor is this ignorance to be much wondred at. 1825 Scott Talism. xi, It cannot be wondered at if he took such opportunities as offered.
e Without construction. Now rare.

C. 1205 Lay. 473 Zif heo wlleð frescipe bi-winnen ne wndre þou nawiht þer fore. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 11409 A sterre..þat comete icluped is Aros..Þat ech man mi3te wondri þat þe sterre isei. C. 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. II. 306 Herfore þei alle abaishiden and woundriden. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 185 Wherof thei merveile everychon, Bot Elda wondreth most of alle. 1533 Frith Answ. More (1548) D vj b, They..vnderstoode not the Spirituall wordes of our Sauioure Christe, and therfore wondered and murmured. 1567 Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) 100 Quhen men sall se this haistie suddand change, Than sall thay wunder. 1611 Shaks. Cymb. i. vi. 81, Whil'st I am bound to wonder, I am bound To pitty too.
f pass. (obs.) and refl. (obs. or dial.) in the same sense. Also †impers. (me wondreth = I wonder).

A. 1225 Ancr. R. 376 Ne wundrie heo hire nowiht, 3if heo nis nout Marie. A. 1300 Floriz & Bl. 354 Muche he wule þonki þe And of þe suþe iwundred beo. A. 1330 Roland & V. 161 Me wondreþ..Þat þou comest nou3t to do batayl. C. 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 4295 Vs wondreþ at 3owre nurture of pris, Þat swylke vilenie in þe now lys. C. 1400 Destr. Troy 9821 Þof þow wylne to þe wer, wonders vs noght. A. 1400-50 Wars Alex. 2856 Þai ware so woundird of þat werke. C. 1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode i. iv. (1869) 3 Yit more j wundrede me of a thing that j seygh. 1533 Tindale Supper of Lord B vj b, I wonder me, that hys scholemaister here fayled him so conynge as he maketh hym selfe therin.
g I shouldn't wonder (colloq.): I should not be surprised (if, etc.).

1836 Dickens Sk. Boz, Gt. Winglebury Duel, `Do you think you could manage to leave a letter there?' interrogated Trott. `Shouldn't wonder,' responded boots. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 19, I should not wonder if he who said this did not understand what he was saying. 1913 Edith Wharton Custom of County i. iii. 35 Saying..`I wouldn't wonder' when she thought any one was trying to astonish her.
2 Usually with clause: To ask oneself in wonderment; to feel some doubt or curiosity (how, whether, why, etc.); to be desirous to know or learn.I wonder is often placed after a question which expresses the object of curiosity or doubt; e.g. `How can that be, I wonder?' = I wonder how that can be. Also I wonder!, colloq. exclamation expressing doubt, incredulity, or reserve of judgement.

1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 160 Þe stones stondeþ þere so grete..& oþere liggeþ heie aboue..Þat eche man wondry may hou hii were ferst arered. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xix. 199, I wondred what þat was. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 210 Thei wondren what sche wolde mene, And riden after softe pas. A. 1425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula etc. 6 Zif the pacient considere or wondre or aske why that he putte hym so long a tyme of curyng. 1590 Shaks. Mids. N. iii. ii. 1, I wonder if Titania be awak't. 1611 Shaks. Wint. T. iii. iii. 71 What haue we heere? Mercy on's, a Barne?.. A boy, or a Childe I wonder? 1651 Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxvi. 139 A man may wonder from whence proceed such opinions. 1681 Evelyn Let. to Pepys 6 Dec., P.'s Diary 1879 VI. 138, I know it has been wondered upon what pretence I should have sought to sit at the Navy Board. 1716 Addison Freeholder No. 43 p.1 One would wonder how any Person endow'd with..ordinary..Prudence..should [etc.]. 1782 Cowper John Gilpin 96 His horse..What thing upon his back had got Did wonder more and more. 1784 Cowper Task i. 469 The heart..finds no music in the song,..and wonders why. 1847 Tennyson in Ld. Tennyson Mem. (1897) I. 244, I wonder whether you can read this scrawl. 1853 Dickens Bleak Ho. iv, I still remained before the fire, wondering and wondering about Bleak House. 1858 Punch XXXIV. 2 Well, I'm sure! What next, I wonder! 1864 Mrs. H. Wood Ld. Oakburn's Dau. xvii, `But what is it all to me?' wondered the captain. 1885-94 R. Bridges Eros & Psyche Feb. v, Wondering of her wiles, and what the charge Shut in the dark obsidian pyx might be. 1898 J. K. Jerome 2nd Thoughts of Idle Fellow 5 She wonders would they change it, if she went back. 1922 Storer Clouston Lunatic at large again i. vi. 70 `Oh, it was entirely his own idea.' Mr. Mason threw him a curious look. `I wonder!' said he.
†3 trans. To regard with wonder; to marvel at: often implying profound admiration (cf. wonder sb. 7 c). Obs.

1535 Coverdale Ecclus. ix. 8 Many a man wonderinge the bewtye of a straunge woman, haue bene cast out. 1567 Painter Pal. Pleas. II. 156 b, That which was more to be wondred in hym. 1593 R. Barnes Parthenophil xxvi. in Arber's Garner V. 354 If She be silent, every man in place With silence, wonders her! 1631 Heywood 2nd Pt. Fair Maid West i. C 2, Goodl. You wonder me. Mull. No, thou art dull, or fearfull, fare thee well. 1821 Lamb Elia Ser. i. My first Play, I knew nothing, understood nothing, discriminated nothing. I felt all, loved all, wondered all.
b impers. pass. it is to be wondered = it is to be wondered at (1 d). Now rare or Obs.

1654 Earl Monm. tr. Bentivoglio's Wars Flanders 2 You shall see them so favour'd..as it is not to be wondred if they have made so long opposition. 1771 Goldsm. Hist. Eng. I. 350 It is not then to be wondered, that there were many complaints. 1827 Westm. Rev. Apr. 284 If it is wondered that they abused what was in their power. 1886 Symonds Renaiss. It., Cath. Reaction ii. 434 It is not to be wondered that..a mournful discouragement should have descended on the age.
†4 To affect or strike with wonder; to cause to marvel, amaze, astound. (See also 1 f.) Obs.

1558 G. Cavendish Poems (1825) II. 123 But how they durst presume it wonders me therefore. 1627 W. Sclater Expos. 2 Thess. (1629) 187 It wonders me to hear the desperate inference. 1638 W. Sclater Serm. Experimentall 28 Of all passages in the story of Job, that one thing wonders me. 1788 Mme. D'Arblay Diary 25 Oct., She alarms me sometimes for herself, at other times she has a sedateness that wonders me still more.
5 intr. To perform wonders. nonce-use.

1784 Cowper Task iv. 87 Katterfelto, with his hair on end At his own wonders, wond'ring for his bread.


'wonder, adv. Obs. or arch. (in later use Sc.). Forms: see wonder sb. [Partly OE. wundor wonder sb. in compounds, as wundorágræfen wonderfully carved (so in OFris. wundergrât wonderfully great, OHG. wunterwas very sharp, MHG. wunderschoene very beautiful); partly OE. wundrum, advb. dative pl. of wundor (cf. MHG. wundernalt very old, etc., and the similar use of gen. pl. of ONor. undr in undradigr, -hár wondrously big, high, etc.).] Wondrously, marvellously, surprisingly; exceedingly, very.
C. 1200 Ormin 7284 Wunnderr mikell shame wass till Issraæle þede. C. 1205 Lay. 1154 Þa wnder creftie men. C. 1205 Lay. 1744 Þat feht wes wnder strong. 13.. Cursor M. 4448 (Gött.) Þe king wid þaim was wonder wrath. C. 1369 Chaucer Dethe Blaunche 452 (Fairf.) Than founde I sitte even vpryght A wonder wel farynge knyght. C. 1420 Prose Life Alex. 46 This prynce was a wyghte man..& wonder trewe till Alexander. C. 1420 Liber Cocorum 23 Wasshe hom and hew hom wondur smalle. 1536 Cranmer Let. in Misc. Writ. (Parker Soc.) 322 Wherein I would wonder fain break my mind unto you. A. 1550 Freiris Berwik 167 in Dunbar's Poems (S.T.S.) 290 With that scho smylit woundir lustely. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. ii. (S.T.S.) I. 169 Hadrian heiring this, was woundir discontent. 1725 Ramsay Gentle Sheph. ii. iv, Now I believe ye like me wonder weel.



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OED Entries Matched
4 entries found.

chicken ('tSIkIn), sb.1 Forms: 1 cicen, (ciken, ciccen), 2, 4-6 chiken, 4- chicken. (4 chykin, chekon, 4-5 cheken, 4-6 chyken, 5 chykyn, -on, -ynge, chycon, checon, schecon, schekyn, 5-6 chekyn, chikyn, 6 cheekyne, 6-7 chickin, 7 (?) chikin, chicking.) Pl. 1 cicenu, 2-3 chikene, 4 chikenes, -ys, chiknes, -nys, 5- ens. [OE. cicen, pl. cicenu. In the same sense Dutch has kieken, kuiken, MDutch kieken (kiekijn), kû.ken, MLG. and LG. küken, MHG. küchen; whence Ger. küchlein; also ONor. kjúklingr (Sw. kjukling, Da. kylling). The relations between these words are not clear; some think that OE. cicen represents an earlier *cíecen, going back, with Dutch kieken, to an OTeut. *kiuki¯nom, a dim. of *kiuk- (cf. the ONor.), an ablaut-form of *kuk-, whence cock. But an OE. cíecen ought to have given in ME. chi¯chen; and the non-palatalization of the second c could be accounted for only by an OE. contraction *ciecnes, *ciecnu, etc. at a date anterior to that of palatalization. But in all the OE. and early ME. examples the word remains full and uncontracted]
1 a The young of the domestic fowl; its flesh.

C. 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xxiii. 37 Suæ henne somni&asg.as cicceno hire. C. 975 Rushw. Gosp. ibid., Swa henne somnaþ ciken hiræ. C. 1000 Ælfric Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 132 Pullus, cicen. C. 1000 Ælfric Gloss. 318 Pullus, cicen oððe brid, oððe fola. C. 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. xxiii. 37 Swa seo henn hyre cicenu under hyre fyðeru &asg.egaderað. C. 1160 Hatton G. ibid. Chikene. 1382 Wyclif Tobit viii. 11 Aboute chykenys crowyng [Vulg. circa pullorum cantum]. C. 1386 Chaucer Prol. 380 To boille the chiknes [v.r. chikenes, -ys] with the Marybones. 1399 Langl. Rich. Redeles ii. 144 As þe houshennes..cherichen her chekonys. C. 1460 J. Russell Bk. Nurture 799 in Babees Bk. (1868) 170 Boyled Chykon or capon agreable. 1474 Caxton Chesse 14 The cok that nothyng norissheth his chekens. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 13 He..cheryssheth vs, as the egle her byrdes, the brood hen her chekyns. 1593 Shaks. 2 Hen. VI, iii. i. 249 To guard the Chicken from a hungry Kyte. 1692 Bentley Boyle Lect. 96 The superstitious observation..of the flying of vulturs, and the pecking of chickings. 1702 W. J. tr. Bruyn's Voy. Levant xl. 159 At Cairo..they hatch Chickens in certain Ovens. 1760 Johnson Idler No. 93 p.2 The company may..refresh themselves with cold tongue, chicken, and French rolls. 1858 O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. (1883) 226 The spring-chickens come to market.
†b Extended to the young of any bird. Obs.

C. 1440 Gesta Rom. i. xxviii. 108 The brydde in the nest is the Holy Goste..the vij. chekenis ben the vij. werkes of mercy. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. (1586) iv, The [Turkey's] Chickens being hatched under a Henne, may be kept with the Hennes Chickens. 1581 Marbeck Bk. of Notes 470 These Halcions making their nests in the sea rocks or sands, wil sit their Egges & hatch forth their chickens. 1651 W. G. tr. Cowel's Inst. 58 The Chickins or young ones of such Birds as build in my Trees.
c chicken sometimes occurs as a plural or collective. Still dial., with chick as the singular.

1600 Heywood 1st Pt. Edw. IV, Wks. 1874 I. 5 So our children haue beene still like Chicken of the halfe kind. 1677 Hale Prim. Orig. Man. i. i. 30 In Chicken and other Fowl. 1807 Crabbe Par. Reg. i. 195 There pigs and chicken quarrel for a meal. 1829 Southey Pilgr. Compostella iv, The chicken were her delight. 1875 Parish Sussex Dial., Chicken, in Mid-Sussex used as the plural of chick.
d A domestic fowl of any age.

1827 Harvard Register May 84 Some students were `hooking' chickens. 1887 Scribner's Mag. May 622/1 The farm people had all retired with the chickens long before. 1908 Westm. Gaz. 24 Jan. 3/1 It is a disastrous betrayal of middle-class origin to speak of a `chicken' as a `fowl'. Whatever the age of the bird, the word must always be chicken.
e The prairie chicken or pinnated grouse; also, the sharp-tailed grouse. U.S.

1812 J. C. Luttig Jrnl. Exped. Upper Missouri (1920) 14 Oct. 85, 4 Men went out to hunt..got this Day 21 Chickens. 1876 Fur, Fin & Feather Sept. 95 You can always find good chicken dogs wherever there are chickens. 1901 S. E. White Westerners xx. 189 The careful attention necessary for the destruction of the wily `chicken' or experienced squirrel.
2 transf. of human offspring: A child.

? A. 1400 Morte Arth. 4182 The churles chekyne hade chaungyde his armes. 1605 Shaks. Macb. iv. iii. 218. 1642 T. Taylor God's Judgem. ii. vi. 82 A chicken of the same broode was Messalina. 1809 Malkin Gil Blas x. x. (Bohn) 498 Well! my chicken, said he..are you satisfied?
3 fig. a A youthful person: one young and inexperienced. (to be) no chicken: no longer young. Also as a slang (chiefly U.S.) term for a girl or young woman. Cf. chick sb.1 3 b.

1711 Steele Spect. No. 216 p.2 You ought to consider you are now past a Chicken; this Humour, which was well enough in a Girl, is insufferable in one of your Motherly Character. 1720 Swift Stella's Birth-day, Pursue your trade of scandal-picking, Your hints that Stella is no chicken. 1809 Cobbett Pol. Reg. 25 Mar. XV. No. 12. 421 An infant at law? A mere chicken? 1860 G. D. Prentice Prenticeana 97 Call a lady `a chicken', and ten to one she is angry. Tell her she is `no chicken', and twenty to one she is still angrier. 1877 E. Walford Gt. Families I. 170 He must have been well forward in years-or at all events, as they say, no chicken. 1880 Spencer Walpole Hist. Eng. III. xii. 43 [Michael Angelo Taylor, M.P.] calling himself on one occasion `a mere chicken in the law', he was ever afterwards known as `Chicken Taylor'.1882 Sydney Slang Dict. 2/2 Chicken, a Girl (applied to the respectable class). 1923 G. H. McKnight Eng. Words iv. 61 In the vocabulary of modern youth, chivalry is dead... A girl is..a chicken, a doll, [etc.]. 1934 J. T. Farrell Young Manhood (1936) 71 He said he was fed up on the dago chickens around State Street anyway. The guys all thought that was a new word.
b Applied to one who is as timorous or defenceless as a chicken. Revived in mod. slang (orig. U.S.), often as quasi-adj.: cowardly. Hence (to play) chicken, (to engage in) a `game' of physical hazard which tests the courage. Cf. chicken-hearted.

1611 Shaks. Cymb. v. iii. 42 Forthwith they flye Chickens, the way which they stopt [Globe ed. stoop'd] Eagles. 1633 T. Stafford Pac. Hib. xix. (1821) 199 Not finding the Defendants to be Chikins, to be afraid of every cloud or kite. 1707 Farquhar Beaux' Strat. iv. iii. 54 Gib. You assure me that Scrub is a Coward. Bou. A Chicken, as the saying is.1936 Amer. Speech XI. 279/2 Chicken, a timid soul; a sissy. 1941 Life 15 Dec. 89 Gets chicken. 1945 Amer. Speech XX. 147/2 A person is `chicken' when he abides too closely by army rules and regulations, or when he misuses or abuses authority, especially in minor or petty matters. 1952 S. Ellin Key to Nicholas St. (1953) iv. ii. 167 You'd just holler for the cops? Why, man, you're chicken. 1953 R. Bradbury Fahrenheit 451 (1954) i. 33 Go out in the cars..trying to see how close you can get to lamp-posts, playing `chicken'. 1956 'M. Innes' Appleby plays Chicken i. i. 17 Playing chicken..this business of proving to yourself that you're as tough as the other chaps. 1956 'M. Innes' Appleby plays Chicken ii. ii. 18 Chicken is done with cars. 1959 Daily Mail 18 May 5/6 Sit on the track as the train thunders nearer... Last to get up is the winner. First is branded `chicken'. 1960 E. W. Hildick Jim Starling & Colonel xi. 93 `Speak for yourself-chicken!' he jeered. 1960 Swerling & Burrows Guys & Dolls ii. iii. 54 Player. Come on, quit stallin', roll. Harry. What's the matter, Sky, turning chicken?
c (See quots.)

1887 J. D. Billings Hardtack & Coffee 52 A Marblehead man called his chum his `chicken', more especially if the latter was a young soldier. 1890 Congress. Rec. 21 Apr. 3637/1 The affection which a sailor will lavish on a ship's boy to whom he takes a fancy, and makes his `chicken', as the phrase is.
4 Mother Cary's (or Carey's) chicken, a name given by sailors to the Stormy Petrel (Procellaria pelagica): also (in pl.) applied to falling snow.

1767 Carteret in Hawksworth Voy. (1773) I. 318 The peterels, to which sailors have given the name of Mother Carey's Chickens. 1836 Marryat Midsh. Easy (1863) 189 All this comes from your croaking-you're a Mother Cary's chicken. 1864 Athenæum 558/2 `Mother Cary's Chickens', the sailors' slang for snow..`Mother Cary' being the Mater cara..of the Levantine sailors.
5 Short for chicken-hazard.

1865 Daily Tel. 5 Dec. 3/4 `Don't go; let's have a little chicken'..A `little chicken' does not mean a wing and a little weak white wine and water, but the rattling of certain ivory cubes in a little leather box.
6 a Proverbs.

1579 Gosson Ephem. 19 a, I woulde not haue him to counte his Chickens so soone before they be hatcht. 1611 Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. ix. xiv. §33. 1664 Butler Hud. ii. iii. 923 To swallow gudgeons ere they're catch'd, And count their chickens ere they're hatched. 1810 Southey Kehama Motto, Curses are like young chicken: they always come home to roost. 1882 Hazlitt Eng. Prov., Children and chicken must ever be picking.
b chicken-and-(the-)egg = hen-and-egg (see hen sb. 8).

1959 Times 23 Sept. 17/5 One of the chicken-and-the-egg problems is involved here. 1961 'C. H. Rolph' Common Sense about Crime iii. 45 To argue that there would be no punishment without crime and (ergo) no crime without punishment would be to import the chicken-and-egg sequence into a problem. 1967 Guardian 24 Feb. 8/5 The chicken-and-egg attitude towards the home background of addicts.
7 General combinations, as †chicken-bird, -cavie, -coop, -farm, -house, -pie, -run (run sb.1 21 b), -salad; chicken-brooding, -farming, -keeper, -merchant, -raising, -rearer; also in parasynthetic compounds, as chicken-brained, -spirited (= chicken-hearted), -toed, adjs.

A. 1400-50 Alexander 4984 With bathe þe chekis & þe chauyls as a *chykin bird. 1678 Otway Friendship in F. 24 What a *Chicken-brain'd Fellow am I grown? If I but dip my Bill I am giddy. 1902 Westm. Gaz. 8 Oct. 8/2 Incubators, *chicken-brooding houses, and `accessories' innumerable. 1785 Burns Jolly Beggars, Ahint the *chicken-cavie. 1789 Mrs. Piozzi Journ. France I. 173 St. Mark's Place is all covered over in a morning with *chicken-coops. 1789 H. Walpole Reminisc. ix. 70 The duchess carrying off the chicken-coop under her arm. 1895 Outing (U.S.) XXVI. 452/1 Wilson..owned a prosperous *chicken farm. 1887 I. Randall Lady's Ranche Life Montana 56 The worst of *chicken farming here is, that in the summer there is a glut of eggs, about 6d a dozen. 1904 Wodehouse Gold Bat ii. 19 The master of that house retired from the business, and took to chicken-farming. 1884 E. P. Roe in Harper's Mag. Jan. 288/1 They are shut up in the *chicken-house. 1610 Healey St. Aug. Citie of God 140 He that kept them was called Pullarius, the *chickin-keeper. 1832 Edinb. Rev. LV. 490 Young Nick, the *chicken-merchant. 1709 W. Byrd Secret Diary (1941) 10 July 58, I ate *chicken pie for dinner. 1723 J. Nott Cook's & Confect. Dict. No. 10B, Balls of forced Meat for a Chicken Pye. 1824 Scott Lett. 3 Feb. in Lockhart (1839) VII. 229 Though I shall never..eat her chicken-pies. 1896 J. C. Harris Sister Jane 166 Aunt Sally a dishin' out the chicken pie at her house. 1891 Pall Mall Gaz. 1 Apr. 3/3 Another industry that could be well pushed into greater prominence is *chicken raising. 1895 Daily News 9 Oct. 6/7 Silver medals were accorded..for the *chicken rearer..and..a wheel-barrow fowl house. 1906 Westm. Gaz. 13 Oct. 16/3 Should it..miss the lizard that crawls out into the open space of the *chicken-run and pick up a young chicken instead-well, you can hardly blame it.1828 Scott F.M. Perth xx, A timorous, *chicken-spirited, though well-meaning man. 1860 Reade Cloister & H. I. 69 The English gentry, in velvet jerkins, and *chicken-toed shoes.
8 Special combs.: chicken à la King [said to be named after E. Clark King, proprietor of a hotel in New York], cooked chicken breast served in a cream sauce with mushrooms and peppers; chicken-breast, a malformed projection of the breast-bone; hence chicken-breasted a. (more usually pigeon-breasted); chicken brick (see quot. 1970); chicken-broth, a decoction of the flesh and bones of a chicken, used as a nutritious food for invalids; hence v. (humorous), to dose with chicken-broth; chickenburger, a cake of minced chicken, usu. served fried or grilled; chicken-cholera, `an infectious disease of chickens, which is very destructive in the poultry farms of France' (Syd. Soc. Lex.); chicken colonel U.S. slang (see quots. 1948 and 1962); chicken corn, (a) U.S., the common sorghum growing out of cultivation; (b) dial., inferior corn; chicken-feed colloq. (orig. U.S.), food for poultry; also fig., anything of little importance, esp. a trifling sum of money; chicken-fixings local U.S., chicken prepared as food; also fig.; chicken-flesh, = goose-flesh; chicken-grape, an American species of the vine (Vitis cordifolia); chicken gumbo (see gumbo 1 b); chicken-hawk chiefly U.S., any of various hawks that kill chickens; chicken Kiev [Kiev, the name of a city in Russia], chicken breast fried or baked with a stuffing of (garlic) butter; †chicken-knots, the chalazæ of an egg; chicken-liver, (a) the liver of a fowl; (b) colloq., a coward; chicken-livered a., = chicken-hearted a.; chicken-pecked a., governed by a child (humorous nonce-wd., after hen-pecked); chicken-pepper, the Ranunculus abortivus (Syd. Soc. Lex.); chicken-shit (coarse slang, orig. U.S.), a coward; also used as a general term of abuse; also attrib. or as adj. (cf. sense 3 b above); chicken-skin, a substance or surface resembling the skin of a chicken in texture or appearance; also attrib.; chicken-snake, a species of American snake considered particularly destructive to chickens and eggs (Bartlett); chicken stake, a small stake (at play); chicken thief (U.S. colloq.), a petty thief, a pilferer; †chicken-water, = chicken-broth; chicken-wire, a light wire netting with hexagonal mesh; chickenwort, = chickweed.

1912 F. M. Farmer New Book Cookery 228 *Chicken à la King. 1931 E. Linklater Juan in Amer. ii. v. 97 Their stomachs filled alike with chicken à la king and pie à la mode. 1940 C. McCullers Heart is Lonely Hunter (1943) ii. ii. 103 She marked the special dinner with chicken à la king at twenty cents instead of fifty. 1969 Harrod's Summer Food News 10/1 Chicken à la King-16 oz. 10/6. 1849-52 Todd Cycl. Anat. IV. 1038/1 That deformity called `*chicken-breast' appears to be independent of the condition of the spine. 1970 Simon & Howe Dict. Gastron. 123/1 *Chicken brick, an inexpensive earthenware container which is made in two halves, almost like two halves of a sarcophagus and originates in Tuscany. It just holds one medium-sized chicken which is cooked peasant-style in the brick. 1982 Habitat Catal. 1982/83 84/4 Terracotta chicken brick that cooks any meat to golden, tender succulence in its own juices. 1984 Sunday Times (Colour Suppl.) 4 Nov. 110/1 Like a chicken brick, the idea is for the meat, encased in clay, to grill in its own juices. 1670 Eachard Cont. Clergy 30 *Chicken-broath is not thinner than that which is commonly offered for a piece of most..convincing sense. 1870-4 Anderson Missions Amer. Bd. III. xi. 176 Every Nestorian..would sooner die than touch a spoonful of chicken-broth during a fast. 1856 Lever Martins of Cro' M. 386 Nursing, and comforting, and chicken-brothing me to my heart's content. 1936 Mencken Amer. Lang. (ed. 4) 220 The barbecues which began to dot the country with the rise of the automobile soon offered *chickenburgers as well as hamburgers. 1984 Listener 12 Apr. 11/3 Thigh meat marinated with Gruyère cheese, chickenburgers, even re-formed chicken on a stick like a lollipop, have all been tried. 1883 Standard 29 Sept. 3/5 The attenuation of the virus of..*chicken cholera, by the action of oxygen. 1888 Spectator 5 May 595/2 M. Pasteur's proposal to kill off the Australian rabbits by Chicken-Cholera. 1948 A. M. Taylor Lang. World War II 53 *Chicken Colonel, a full colonel, rank designated by silver eagles (chickens) on his shoulders. 1950 Hemingway Across the River iv. 25 Maybe they treat me well because I'm a chicken colonel on the winning side. 1962 Amer. Speech XXXVII. 288 It is proper to call a full colonel a chicken colonel in the Air Force, but in the Marine Corps the correct expression is bird colonel. 1856 Congress. Globe 17 Apr. 960/2 Chinese sugar cane is nothing more than what we call *chicken corn down in Georgia. 1895 Wilts. County Mirror 27 Sept. 2/4 The second share has only yielded chicken corn. 1901 C. Mohr Plant Life Alabama 339 Sorghum vulgare,..Chicken Corn, Durrha. Sugar-Corn... Escaped from cultivation, becoming a pernicious weed in many parts of the Southern States. 1836 Col. Crockett's Exploits 78, I stood looking on, seeing him pick up the *chicken feed from the green horns. 1865 R. H. Kellogg Rebel Prisons 109 Two buckets of mush for ninety men. `Chicken feed,' the boys called it. 1879 F. R. Stockton Rudder Grange xiv. 173 The houses scattered a long ways apart, like stingy chicken-feed. 1904 ' O. Henry' in McClure's Mag. Aug. 359/2 Salt away that chicken feed in your duds. 1937 G. Heyer They found him Dead xiii. 265 He was picking up a living doing odd jobs for any firm that would use him. Chicken-feed! 1941 New Review 28 Aug. 5/3 In peacetime, officers in the British Army were men of independent means to whom their Army pay was chickenfeed. 1958 Observer 4 May 14/7 We're ridden with guilt... God bothers us. This kind of thing is chickenfeed to the playwright. 1838 E. Flagg Far West II. 72 Wheat-bread and *chicken fixens, or cornbread and common doins? 1854 Mary J. Holmes Tempest & Sunshine v. 70 We don't have any of your Chicken Fixins nor little three-cornered handkerchiefs laid out at each plate. 1874 Eggleston Circuit Rider ii. 20 The strife had given them vigorous relish for Mrs. Lumsden's `chicken-fixin's'. 1886 Proctor in Knowledge 1 Apr. 179/1 Chicken fixings, originally a chicken fricassee, now applied sometimes to any particularly fine arrangements, as distinguished from `common doings'. 1886 [see gadget]. 1887 Month LXI. 14, I got `*chicken flesh' all over my body. 1807 J. Scott Geogr. Descr. Maryland 112 A middle sized grape, of a purple colour, growing in clusters, like the *chicken grape. 1883 Century Mag. Aug. 487/2 The berries of the haw, the gum, and the chicken-grape. 1867 Common Sense Cook Bk. (N.Y.), *Chicken gumbo. 1884 C. Phillipps-Wolley Trottings of Tender Foot 5 A menu..including such hitherto unheard-of luxuries as chicken gumbo..and mush. 1908 G. H. Lorimer J. Spurlock ix. 207 First there was a chicken gumbo soup, and then cold boiled Virginia ham. 1958 Catal. County Stores, Taunton June 7 Soups..Chicken Gumbo-a tin 1/7. 1827 J. L. Williams W. Florida 30 *Chicken Hawk. F[alco] pullenarius. 1890 J. Watson Nature viii. 96 The freshly added Sparrow-hawk is by no means the only one of its kind, for there are four or five `blue-hawks'. `Chicken-hawk' is another of the Keeper's names for the bird. 1925 J. Gregory Bab of the Backwoods ii, I never saw a buzzard and a sparrow nesting together... Nor a chicken-hawk and a linnet. 1958 J. Carew Wild Coast iii. 45 They saw a chicken hawk fighting with a grass snake. 1950 Gourmet Cookbk. 301 (heading) *Chicken cutlets Kiev. 1964 L. Deighton Funeral in Berlin xxx. 155, I..had..lasagne and followed it with chicken Kiev. 1980 B. W. Aldiss Life in West iii. 57 And I ate up all my Chicken Kiev.1615 Markham Eng. Housew. ii. ii. (1668) 55 Cleanse away the little white *chicken knots, which stick unto the yelks. 1899 Kipling From Sea to Sea I. xii. 308 They gave me *chicken liver and sucking-pig in the Victoria at Hong-Kong. 1932 R. Macaulay They were Defeated i. iv. 33 Pox on him for a chicken-liver that ran away from the Scots. 1950 E. David Bk. Mediterranean Food 137 Take about 1 lb. of chicken livers or mixed chicken, duck, pigeon or any game liver. 1963 M. McCarthy Group ix. 194 Mr. Andrews' famous chicken-liver pâté, a recipe he had brought back from France. 1872 'M. Twain' Roughing It, Many a notorious coward, many a *chicken-livered poltroon. 1943 H. Pearson Conan Doyle iii. 37 He's a nervous, chicken-livered kind of man, and when I look at him he turns the colour of putty. 1786 Burgoyne Heiress iii. i. (D.) What am I the better for burying a jealous wife? To be *chicken-peck'd is a new persecution more provoking than the old one. 1947 C. Willingham End as Man xvi. 192 You're both acting like *chicken-shits. We win a batch of money-you're afraid to take it. 1948 N. Mailer Naked & Dead i. i. 7 `What's the matter?' he asked. `You going chickenshit?' 1968 Southerly XXVIII. 281 `You're just a pile of compromising chickenshit,' Gillian says in a whisper. 1969 C. Himes Blind Man with Pistol xix. 203 She's a slut, just a chickenshit whore. 1970 It 12-25 Feb. 17/1 American groups are not so chickenshit about getting into underground work. 1690 Evelyn Mundus Muliebris 6 Gloves..Some of *Chicken skin for night, To keep her Hands plump, soft, and white. 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast (1841) xiii. 24/2 They [sc. Californians]..buy..`chicken-skin' boots at fifteen dollars apiece. 1901 Lady's Realm X. 652/2 The chicken-skin [design]-namely, a sort of groundwork with tiny pin-points all over it, which shows up the flowers to perfection. 1902 Daily Chron. 19 July 8/3 Fans..composed of delicate lace inset with net or chicken-skin medallions. 1904 Daily Chron. 31 May 3/1 Subtle effects of colour which [china] collectors prize under such names as `egg-shell', `chicken-skin', and especially `flambé'. 1928 Daily Mail 7 Aug. 3/2 The painting is done on what is called `chicken-skin'-which in the old days was really a specially prepared parchment. 1930 W. de la Mare On Edge 320 Absurd misgivings productive only of chicken-skin and perplexity. 1709 J. Lawson New Voy. Carolina 134 The Egg or *Chicken-Snake..eats Eggs and Chickens. 1868 F. Boyle Ride across Cont. II. 285 The boba or chicken-snake..rarely attains a greater length than twelve feet. 1785 Daines Barrington in Archæol. VIII. 133*, There are also considerable heaps of gold and silver on the table, so that these dignified personages seem to have played for what would not at present be called a *chicken stake. 1856 Olmsted Slave States 674 `*Chicken thieves', the nuisance of petty traders dealing with the negroes, and encouraging them to pilfer. 1769 Mrs. Raffald Eng. Housekpr. (1778) 313 To make *Chicken Water. 1789 W. Buchan Dom. Med. 541 The patient may be supported..by clysters of beef-tea, or chicken-water. 1920 Outing (U.S.) June 164/2 It is a very good idea to take along a roll of *chicken wire. 1963 J. Tootell Floristry ii. i. 26 Having cut a piece of inch-and-a-half mesh chicken-wire, curl the edges inwards until you have formed a rough ball. 1765 A. Dickson Treat. Agric. 486 The frequent plowing of this soil makes it run much to *chickenwort, and other creeping weeds.


chicken ('tSIkEn), sb.2 India. Also chikan. [Hind., a. Pers. chakin, chikin needle-work.] Embroidery. Also attrib.
1880 W. Hoey Monogr. Trade N. India iii. 88 Chikan is hand-worked flowered muslin and the chikan of Lucknow is in great demand in all parts of India. 1880 W. Hoey Monogr. Trade N. India, iii. 88 Chikan is largely exported from Lucknow to Agra.., to Mirzapur, Patna, and Calcutta.., and to Haidarábád, Dakhan. 1886 Offic. Catal. Col. & Ind. Exhib. 16 At Calcutta embroidered muslin is called chikan (needle work). 1886 Offic. Catal. Col. & Ind. Exhib. 43 The large collection of chikan work from Calcutta. 1886 Yule & Burnell Anglo-Ind. Gloss., Chicken-walla, an itinerant dealer in embroidered handkerchiefs, petticoats, and such like. 1908 Imp. Gazetteer India III. 221 Chikan work in fact takes the place in India that lace holds in Europe.


chicken ('tSIkIn), v. slang (orig. U.S.). [f. chicken sb.1 3 b.] To fail to act, or to back down, from motives of cowardice. Freq. const. out.
1943 I. Wolfert Torpedo 8 (1944) ii. 19, I just wanted to..make sure you weren't chickening out on me. 1950 Cornell (Univ.) Daily Sun 24 Mar. 4 (Wentworth & Flexner), The Harvard Student Council..just plain chickened out... [They] considered the proposal..and sent the resolution back to committee on a technicality. 1960 Encounter Feb. 46/2 Those people were looking to us for help and-we chickened out. 1961 C. McCullers Clock without Hands iv. 76 You would of been the first to chicken. 1965 Economist 4 Sept. 890/1 Nobody can trust the others not to chicken out if they take the first plunge.