Definition

1. Noun:
   • A cold dish consisting primarily of chopped or shredded cooked chicken meat, typically mixed with other ingredients such as mayonnaise, celery, onions, herbs, and seasonings, and often served on bread, in a sandwich, or on a bed of lettuce.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • For lunch, I ordered a chicken salad sandwich on whole wheat bread.
  • She makes the best chicken salad with grapes and walnuts.
  • The deli offers a classic chicken salad as a side dish.

Advanced Usage

• "Chicken salad" can metaphorically refer to something created from disparate or leftover elements, implying a successful or palatable combination.
  • After the merger, the new department was a real chicken salad—a mix of people from different teams that worked surprisingly well together.

Variants and Related Words

• Chicken salad sandwich (n): A sandwich where chicken salad is the primary filling.
• Curried chicken salad (n): A variant of chicken salad seasoned with curry powder.

Synonyms

• Chopped chicken salad: Emphasizes the preparation method of the chicken.
• Chicken mixture: A more general term for the combined ingredients.

Related Idioms

• "Making chicken salad out of chicken shit" (vulgar idiom): To create something good or acceptable from poor or substandard materials.
  • The budget was cut again, but our manager is good at making chicken salad out of chicken shit.

Noun

1. salad composed primarily of chopped chicken meat