fowl

UK: /ˈfaʊl/ US: /faʊl/ ,(foul)

Inflections of 'fowl' (n):

fowls

npl (All usages)

fowl

npl (Can be used as a collective plural—e.g. "Farmers keep fowl for their eggs.")

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

fowl /faʊl/   n., pl. fowls, (esp. when thought of as a group) fowl. 

1. Animal Husbandry a domestic hen or rooster;
   chicken.
2. Birds any of several other similar birds, such as turkeys or pheasants.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

fowl  (foul), n., pl. fowls, (esp. collectively) fowl, v. 
n. 

1. Animal Husbandry the domestic or barnyard hen or rooster;
   chicken. Cf. domestic fowl.
2. Birds any of several other, usually gallinaceous, birds that are barnyard, domesticated, or wild, as the duck, turkey, or pheasant.
3. Animal Husbandry (in market and household use) a full-grown domestic fowl for food purposes, as distinguished from a chicken or young fowl.
4. the flesh or meat of a domestic fowl.
5. any bird (used chiefly in combination):
   waterfowl; wildfowl.

v.i. 

6. to hunt or take wildfowl.

• bef. 900; Middle English foul, Old English fugol, fugel; cognate with Old Saxon fugal, Gothic fugls, Old High German fogal (German Vogel)

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

fowl / faʊl/ noun

2. any other bird, esp any gallinaceous bird, that is used as food or hunted as game
   See also waterfowl, wildfowl
3. the flesh or meat of fowl, esp of chicken
4. an archaic word for any bird

verb

1. (intransitive) to hunt or snare wildfowl

Etymology: Old English fugol; related to Old Frisian fugel, Old Norse fogl, Gothic fugls, Old High German fogal