chicken out

phrasal verb

chickened out; chickening out; chickens out

informal

: to decide not to do something because one is afraid

He was going to ask her on a date, but he chickened out at the last minute.

Examples of chicken out in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Use tongs to lift the chicken out of the bowl, letting any excess brine drip back into the bowl. —

Sheela Prakash, Bon Appétit, 19 June 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'chicken out.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.