Dictionary

mother hen en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Meanings

1. (literally) A female chicken who bears eggs or chicks.
2. (idiomatic) An outspoken and overprotective woman or person dealing with others' affairs; especially, an assertive matriarch.
   • Baela sends a letter by raven to her father Daemon spilling all the tea, and the news sends a now-pregnant Rhaenyra into mother-hen mode. 2022 October 10, Jenna Scherer, “House Of The Dragon drops its best episode yet”, in AV Club:

Forms

Hyponyms

helicopter mom · helicopter parent

Relateds

henpecked · mother-hen

Translations (18)

ca lloca (female chicken) · sv hönsmamma (overprotective woman) · unm nushehële (female chicken) · hu kotlós (female chicken) · pl nadopiekuńcza matka (overprotective woman) · ro cloșcă (female chicken) · ta தாய்க்கோழி (female chicken) · ca lloca (overprotective woman) · de Glucke (female chicken) · ru клу́ша (overprotective woman) · hu tyúkanyó (female chicken) · es gallina (female chicken) · fr mère poule (overprotective woman) · pl kwoka (female chicken) · it mamma chioccia (overprotective woman) · nl moederkloek (overprotective woman) · ga cearc ghoir (overprotective woman) · de Glucke (overprotective woman)

mother hen en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Meanings

1. (alt-of, alternative) Alternative form of mother-hen.
   alt of mother-hen
   • Instead, the very "mother henning" implicit in their choice of "nurturance" over "intimacy" was what the they thought uniquely characterized their relationship to their child. 1990, Diane Ehrensaft, Parenting Together: Men and Women Sharing the Care of Their Children:
   • That was probably why the girls mother henned her a bit and sometimes made her feel like the runt of the litter. 2011, Suzanne Forster, Unfinished Business:
   • He's mother henning and driving me crazy. 2010, T.M. Nielsen, Equites, page 541:

Forms

Relateds

hen