English Reference

Idiom

play chicken

Meaning

As a risky test of courage, to drive two vehicles directly toward one another in order to see which driver will swerve away first.

Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Examples

“They are playing chicken with their cars on the empty road.”

“The two drivers refused to slow down at the intersection, effectively playing chicken to see who would yield first.”

“By refusing to compromise on the budget, the two political parties were playing chicken with the stability of the entire national economy.”

Examples

simple

“They are playing chicken with their cars on the empty road.”

contextual

“The two drivers refused to slow down at the intersection, effectively playing chicken to see who would yield first.”

complex

“By refusing to compromise on the budget, the two political parties were playing chicken with the stability of the entire national economy.”

Key words

Related idioms

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English Reference