English synonyms

Question 1

chicken

Answer 1

1. Fly the coop - When a chicken is accused of having flown the coop, it means that the chicken has escaped from their coop and is now flying or roaming free. Idiomatically, we use fly the coop to mean “to leave suddenly or secretly” or “to escape or go away” or “to leave home.”
   In the morning the suspect had flown the coop.
   All their children have flown the coop.
2. Pecking order - pecking order among humans refers to a social hierarchy (though usually without the pecking).
3. Put all your eggs in one basket - To put all of your eggs in one basket is to risk all you have on the success or failure of one thing.
4. Walk on eggshells - to exercise extreme caution.
5. Mother hen - A person described as a mother hen is a person who assumes an overly protective maternal attitude.
6. No spring chicken - not a young person
   Most of those guys are more than 10 years older than I am, and I’m no spring chicken. I’m not sure they’ll ever tour again.
   — Kim Poindexter, Tahlequah Daily Press (Oklahoma), 2 April 2023

[WWE wrestler Randy] Orton is still just 42 years old, which is like a spring chicken in pro wrestling these days. —Blake Oestriecher, Forbes.com, 27 March 2023
7. Rule the roost - A roost is a support (such as a bar or tree branch) on which chickens rest. And in a flock you may find that one chicken rules that roost. Figuratively, rule the roost means “to have the most control or authority in a group”.