up with the chickens
Awake and out of bed early in the morning.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“Farmers are usually up with the chickens.”
“I have a long drive ahead tomorrow, so I need to be up with the chickens.”
“Determined to finish the harvest before the storm arrived, the workers were up with the chickens, laboring under the pale light of dawn.”
- 01
chicken feed
A very small or insignificant quantity, especially of money.
- 02
chicken out
To shy away from a daring task; to decline, refuse, or avoid something due to fear or uncertainty.
- 03
chicken scratch
Cramped or illegible handwriting.
- 04
choke the chicken
To masturbate by stimulating one's penis.
- 05
get up with the chickens
to wake up early
- 06
play chicken
As a risky test of courage, to drive two vehicles directly toward one another in order to see which driver will swerve away first.
- 07
run around like a chicken with its head cut off
To act in a haphazard or aimless way; to act frantically or without control.
- 08
the chickens come home to roost
A person's past wrongdoings will return to negatively affect them.
Last updated August 10, 2026