a chicken and egg situation - a situation in which it is impossible to say which of two things existed first and which caused the other
It's a chicken and egg situation - I don't know whether I was bad at the sciences because I wasn't interested in them or not interested in them and therefore not good at them.
be no spring chicken (humorous) - to not be young any more
He must be ten years older than Grace, and she's no spring chicken.
chicken feed - Fig. a small amount of anything, especially of money.
Of course I can afford $800. That's just chicken feed.
It may be chicken feed to you, but that's a month's rent to me.
chicken out (of something) - Inf. to manage to get out of something, usually because of fear or cowardice.
Come on! Don't chicken out now!
Freddy chickened out of the plan at the last minute.
chicken out on someone - Inf. to decide not to do something for or with someone.
Come on, don't chicken out on me now!
Ken chickened out on us and won't be going with us.
chicken-hearted - cowardly.
Yes, I'm a chicken-hearted softie.
I never try anything too risky.
chickens come home to roost - Prov. You have to face the consequences of your mistakes or bad deeds.If you say that chickens are coming home to roost, you mean that bad or silly things done in the past are beginning to cause problems
Jill: Emily found out that I said she was incompetent, and now she won't recommend me for that job.
Jane: The chickens have come home to roost, I see.
count one's chickens before they hatch - Fig. to plan how to utilize good results of something before those results have occurred. (The same as Don't count your chickens before they are hatched.)
You may be disappointed if you count your chickens before they hatch.
Don't count your chickens (before they're hatched). - something that you say in order to warn someone to wait until a good thing they are expecting has really happened before they make any plans about it
You might be able to get a loan from the bank, but don't count your chickens.
for chicken feed and for peanuts - Fig. for nearly nothing; for very little money. (Also used without for.)
Bob doesn't get paid much. He works for chicken feed.
You can buy an old car for chicken feed. I won't do that kind of work for peanuts!
go to bed with the chickens - Fig. to go to bed at sundown-at the same time that chickens go to sleep.
They say that farmers go to bed with the chickens.
We always go to bed with the chickens and get up early too.
If it ain't chickens, it's feathers. - Rur. There are always problems.;
That is life. Now that I'm finally done with school, I've got to worry about getting a job.
If it ain't chickens, it's feathers. He's got plenty of money now, but he's in such bad health he can't enjoy it. If it ain't chickens, it's feathers.
like a headless chicken (British) also like a chicken with its head cut off (American) - if you do something like a headless chicken, you do it very quickly and without thinking carefully about what you are doing (usually in continuous tenses)
I've got so much work to do - I've been running around like a headless chicken all week.
He was racing around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to do the work of two people.
no spring chicken - Fig. a person well past youth; an old person.
That actress is no spring chicken, but she does a pretty good job of playing a twenty-year-old girl.
Jane: How old do you think Robert is?
Jill: Well, he's certainly no spring chicken.
run around like a chicken with its head cut off - Fig. to run around frantically and aimlessly; to be in a state of chaos. (Alludes to a chicken that continues to run around aimlessly after its head has been chopped off.)
I spent all afternoon running around like a chicken with its head cut off.