spring chicken

English

Etymology

From spring +‎ chicken. First appears c. 1765 in The Public Advertiser.

Noun

spring chicken (plural spring chickens)

1. (cooking) A chicken for eating while it is still young.
2. (informal, chiefly in negative constructions) A person who is still young.
   • 2014, William Friedman, Hearts and Minds, page 64:

     It is a special day for you indeed, for both of us, bodies incorporeal, receptive always to life's joys appreciative in any way I can, you like to remind me were both getting old; I'd remind you that, at fifty-five, you're still a spring chicken.

Derived terms

• no spring chicken