Definition

1. Noun:

   • A bird, especially a domesticated one kept for its eggs or meat: "fowl" typically refers to birds that are raised by humans, such as chickens, ducks, or geese.
   • The flesh of such a bird used as food: "fowl" can also mean the meat from these birds when prepared for eating.

2. Verb:

   • To hunt, catch, or shoot wild birds, especially game birds: "fowl" means to pursue birds for sport or food.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:

  • We keep several fowl in the backyard for fresh eggs. (We keep several birds like chickens in the backyard for fresh eggs.)
  • For dinner, we roasted a fowl with herbs. (For dinner, we roasted a bird like a chicken with herbs.)

• Verb:

  • In the autumn, they would go to the marshes to fowl for ducks. (In the autumn, they would go to the marshes to hunt for ducks.)

Advanced Usage

• "neither fish nor fowl": something or someone that is difficult to classify or does not fit into a standard category.

  • His new book is neither fish nor fowl; it's not quite a novel and not quite a memoir. (His new book is difficult to classify; it's not quite a novel and not quite a memoir.)

• "fowl of the air" (archaic/literary): birds in general.

  • The poet wrote about the fowl of the air singing at dawn. (The poet wrote about the birds singing at dawn.)

Variants and Related Words

• Fowler (noun): a person who hunts or catches wild birds.

  • He was an expert fowler, skilled in trapping game birds.

• Fowling (noun): the activity or practice of hunting wild birds.

  • Fowling was a common way to obtain food in earlier centuries.

• Waterfowl (noun): birds that live on or around water, such as ducks, geese, and swans.

  • The lake is a sanctuary for migrating waterfowl.

Synonyms

• Poultry (noun): domestic fowl, such as chickens, turkeys, ducks, and geese, kept for their eggs or meat.
• Bird (noun): a more general term for a warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrate with feathers and wings.

Related Phrasal Verbs

(Note: "fowl" is not commonly used to form standard phrasal verbs. The verb form is used directly.)

Related Idioms

• "To be foul of" vs. "To fowl": Be careful not to confuse the verb "to fowl" (to hunt birds) with the phrase "to fall foul of" (to come into conflict with or get into trouble with).
  • He fell foul of the new regulations. (He got into trouble with the new regulations.) [This uses "foul," not "fowl."]

Noun

1. the flesh of a bird or fowl (wild or domestic) used as food
2. a domesticated gallinaceous bird thought to be descended from the red jungle fowl

Verb

1. hunt fowl in the forest
2. hunt fowl