Definition of "chick"

Published in the Communications Earth & Environment journal, scientists conclude that due to sea ice loss last year, it is highly probable that no chicks had survived from four of the five known emperor penguin colonies in the central and eastern Bellingshausen Sea in Antarctica.

2023 August 24, Pádraig Hoare, “90% of emperor penguin colonies doomed to extinction by century's end”, in Irish Examiner‎

"I thought you had some common sense, Frank," said Uncle John; "but I see you are as great a fool as all the rest. Marry, indeed! A pretty chick to marry!"

1860, Joseph Verey, Tinsel and Gold: A Fireside Story, London: James Blackwood, page 155

He had determined that marriage now would cramp his advancement in the church and that, anyway, he didn't want to marry this brainless little fluffy chick, who would be of no help in impressing rich parishioners.

1927, Sinclair Lewis, Elmer Gantry

Three cool chicks / Are walking down the street / Swinging their hips

1958, Jerry Leiber; Mike Stoller (lyrics and music), “Three Cool Cats”

Good. It's nice to have a chick occasionally.

1970, Gimme Shelter (motion picture), Mick Jagger (actor)

I can't believe you've got a hot chick in that ratty apartment with you.

2004, Tess Pendergrass, Bad moon rising

The Aldis lamp flashes at the underside of each aircraft. It shows that the gear is down. Diegal is relaxing. This is such low responsibility, easy night duty. All the “chicks” (fighter aircraft) are home to roost except one.

2004, Joe Welzen, The Gutsy Stomach Walker, page 50

plowing in his oats with a very feet furrow; and, after they have “chicked” but before they appear aboveground

1795, William Marshall, The Rural Economy of Norfolk

He chicked his lips; he cracked his whip; he winked with a knowing leer; he ran down the alley and up the stair, then down the stair and up the alley

1844, James Ballantine, The Miller of Deanhaugh

Then, through a cautiously lifted chick, the old scene stands revealed […]

1890, Rudyard Kipling, Letter to William Canton, 5 April, 1890, in Sandra Kemp and Lisa Lewis (eds.) Writings on writing by Rudyard Kipling, Cambridge University Press, 1996, p. 34

It is not uncommon at meal-time to see the table servants chasing the sparrows about the room, endeavouring to drive them out while some one holds up the "chick" or bamboo net which covers the doorway.

1905, A. C. Newcombe, chapter VII, in Village, Town, and Jungle Life in India‎, Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons, page 106

[…] at this time of day all the verandas were curtained with green bamboo chicks.

1934 October, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], “Chapter 2”, in Burmese Days, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, Publishers

Outside I could hear the bamboo chick tapping on the door like a blind man's stick on a kerbstone.

1999, Kevin Rushby, chapter 10, in Chasing the Mountain of Light: Across India on the Trail of the Koh-i-Noor Diamond, New York: St. Martin's Press, page 216