Meaning & use
scratch the chicken
Last updated
Meanings
phrasefixed phraseinformalslang
A dance move in which a person bends one leg and kicks the other foot backward while moving the arms like a chicken.
Grammar: Used as a verb phrase: you scratch the chicken, or you do the scratch the chicken.
Patterns
- do the scratch the chicken
- scratch the chicken (dance)
At the party, everyone started to scratch the chicken when the DJ played that old song.
He tried to scratch the chicken, but he looked more like he was falling over.
phrasetransitive
To literally use your nails to rub a chicken's skin, usually to relieve itching or to clean it.
Grammar: Takes an object: scratch the chicken gently.
Patterns
- scratch the chicken
- scratch a chicken
The vet showed the farmer how to scratch the chicken to check for mites.
My grandmother would scratch the chicken under its wings to calm it down.
Common combinations
- do the scratch the chicken
- The kids loved to do the scratch the chicken at the school talent show.
- scratch the chicken dance
- The scratch the chicken dance became a viral challenge online.
- scratch the chicken move
- He showed me the scratch the chicken move, and I couldn't stop laughing.
Commonly confused: scratch the chicken or chicken scratch?
scratch the chicken vs chicken scratch
Chicken scratch means messy, hard-to-read handwriting, while scratch the chicken is a dance move or a literal action.
Practice
What does the phrase 'scratch the chicken' most commonly refer to in informal modern English?
Choose one answer.
The phrase is widely known as a dance move, especially on social media. While it can mean literally scratching a chicken, that is not the most common informal use.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “scratch the chicken”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.