chickenhawk
Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word chickenhawk. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word chickenhawk, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say chickenhawk in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word chickenhawk you have here. The definition of the word chickenhawk will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofchickenhawk, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
See also: chicken hawk
English
Etymology
From chicken + hawk. The political sense is derived from figurative meanings of "chicken" (coward) and "hawk" (militarist).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈt͡ʃɪkɪnˌhɔk/
Audio (General Australian): (file)
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
|
adult man who seeks out boys as his sexual partners
|
References
- “chickenhawk”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.