chickenhawk
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See also: chicken hawk
English
Etymology
chicken + hawk. The political sense is derived from figurative meanings of "chicken" (coward) and "hawk" (militarist).
Pronunciation
Noun
chickenhawk (plural chickenhawks)
- Any of the North American hawk species (Cooper's hawk, sharp-shinned hawk and red-tailed hawk), or counterparts elsewhere, mistakenly believed to be pests.
- (US politics, derogatory) A draft dodger, especially in the Vietnam War, who nonetheless currently supports United States overseas military engagements.
- (derogatory, gay slang) An older, usually more powerful man who preys on adolescent boys for sex.
- 1985 August 24, Mark McHarry, “Adult/Youth Sex as Fiction, Fact, and Fate”, in Gay Community News, volume 13, number 7, page 8:
- For every instance of Saul's good-humoredly putting one over on the criminal justice system […] to free his younger lover from his latest legal trouble, Rogers recounts callous treatment at the hands of the older man. In addition, Sinbad suffers brutal depredations from the city's other chicken hawks.
Translations
hawk species
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adult man who seeks out boys as his sexual partners
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References
- “chickenhawk”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.