To chicken out means to decide not to do something out of fear, cowardice, or loss of nerve, especially an action that one previously agreed, planned, or was expected to do.
Inflections & Variants: chickened out, chickening out, chickens out, chicken out of (something)
Grammar Note: While often categorized in dictionaries alongside phrasal verbs, chicken out functions strictly as an idiomatic phrase. In English, “chicken” is not used as an independent verb on its own (one does not say “he chickened”); the verb form exists exclusively when fused with out. This phrase therefore does not function as a phrasal verb but as a fixed idiomatic phrase.
Origin of “Chicken Out”
The use of chicken to denote cowardice, timidity, or lack of courage dates back centuries in English slang. By the 16th and 17th centuries, calling someone “chicken-hearted” or “hen-hearted” was a well-established insult based on the perception that domestic poultry flee at the slightest sign of danger.
While chicken-hearted appeared in print as early as Shakespeare’s era (and William Camden’s Remaines Concerning Britaine in 1605), the noun form referring directly to a cowardly person solidified in 19th-century American colloquial speech. The modern verbal phrase chicken out emerged in American military and adolescent slang around the 1930s and 1940s, pairing the traditional noun with out to describe withdrawing from an agreed challenge, dare, or dangerous task at the critical moment.
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Sentence Examples
“We were both going to get tattoos last night but Mack chickened out.”
“It’s too late to chicken out of rock climbing now, we’re almost there.”
“Albert is always chickening out of everything. He agreed to help me play a prank on Bradley but then was afraid he’d get in trouble.”
Similar and Related Idioms and Phrases
Get Cold Feet: To experience a sudden surge of nervousness or hesitation that causes someone to pull out of a major commitment or big decision.
Lose One’s Nerve: To suddenly lose the courage, resolve, or bravery needed to carry out an intended action.
Yellow-Bellied (or Turn Yellow): A classic colloquial description for someone who is cowardly, cowardly acting, or easily frightened.
Wimp Out (or Wuss Out): Slang expressions meaning to fail to do something challenging or difficult because of weakness or lack of grit.
Bail Out: To abandon a deteriorating situation, venture, or project suddenly before it fails completely.
Cop Out: To take an easy way out, make a lame excuse, or avoid doing one’s duty or facing reality.
Back Out: To formally or informally withdraw from an agreement, contract, or promise.
Bow Out: To withdraw gracefully, formally, or respectfully from a competition, race, or position.