Etymology From Middle English chicke, chike, variation of chiken (“chicken", also "chick”), from Old English ċicen, ċycen (“chicken”). Sense of "young woman" dates to at least 1860 (compare chit (“young, pert woman”)). More at chicken.
1
A young bird.
Near-synonyms: nestling, fledgling
Published in the Communications Earth & Environment journal, scientists conclude that due to sea ice loss last year, it is highly probable that no chicks had survived from four of the five known emperor penguin colonies in the central and eastern Bellingshausen Sea in Antarctica.2023 August 24, Pádraig Hoare, “90% of emperor penguin colonies doomed to extinction by century's end”, in Irish Examiner:
2
Especially A young chicken.
Neither chick nor child was left living the length of the seacoast.1961, Norma Lorre Goodrich, “Beowulf”, in The Medieval Myths, New York: The New American Library, page 41:
3
Colloquial An attractive, young woman; or, more generally, a woman.
This chick's a machine but her friend is way more fun.
They're going to have a chick weekend. No guys allowed.
4 more examples
He'll fall for any chick with a nice smile.
"I thought you had some common sense, Frank," said Uncle John; "but I see you are as great a fool as all the rest. Marry, indeed! A pretty chick to marry!"1860, Joseph Verey, Tinsel and Gold: A Fireside Story, London: James Blackwood, page 155:
He had determined that marriage now would cramp his advancement in the church and that, anyway, he didn't want to marry this brainless little fluffy chick, who would be of no help in impressing rich parishioners.1927, Sinclair Lewis, Elmer Gantry:
Three cool chicks / Are walking down the street / Swinging their hips1958, Jerry Leiber; Mike Stoller, “Three Cool Cats”:
The Aldis lamp flashes at the underside of each aircraft. It shows that the gear is down. Diegal is relaxing. This is such low responsibility, easy night duty. All the “chicks” (fighter aircraft) are home to roost except one.2004, Joe Welzen, The Gutsy Stomach Walker, page 50:
Etymology From Middle English chicke, chike, variation of chiken (“chicken", also "chick”), from Old English ċicen, ċycen (“chicken”). Sense of "young woman" dates to at least 1860 (compare chit (“young, pert woman”)). More at chicken.
1
Obsolete To sprout, as seed does in the ground; to vegetate.
plowing in his oats with a very feet furrow; and, after they have “chicked” but before they appear aboveground1795, William Marshall, The Rural Economy of Norfolk:
2
To compress the lips and then separate them quickly, resulting in a percussive noise.
He chicked his lips; he cracked his whip; he winked with a knowing leer; he ran down the alley and up the stair, then down the stair and up the alley1844, James Ballantine, The Miller of Deanhaugh:
chick
noun
Etymology Borrowed from Hindustani (Hindi चिक़ (ciq) / Urdu چق (ciq)), ultimately from Classical Persian چق (čiq).
1
India, Pakistan A screen or blind made of finely slit bamboo and twine, hung in doorways or windows.
1890, Rudyard Kipling, Letter to William Canton, 5 April, 1890, in Sandra Kemp and Lisa Lewis (eds.) Writings on writing by Rudyard Kipling, Cambridge University Press, 1996, p. 34, https://books.google.ca/books?id=-AQStA5QMjwC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false Then, through a cautiously lifted chick, the old scene stands revealed […]
It is not uncommon at meal-time to see the table servants chasing the sparrows about the room, endeavouring to drive them out while some one holds up the "chick" or bamboo net which covers the doorway.1905, A. C. Newcombe, chapter VII, in Village, Town, and Jungle Life in India, Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons, page 106:
2 more examples
[…] at this time of day all the verandas were curtained with green bamboo chicks.1934 October, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], “Chapter 2”, in Burmese Days, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, →OCLC:
Outside I could hear the bamboo chick tapping on the door like a blind man's stick on a kerbstone.1999, Kevin Rushby, chapter 10, in Chasing the Mountain of Light: Across India on the Trail of the Koh-i-Noor Diamond, New York: St. Martin's Press, page 216:
Whenever master spends a chick I keep back two rupees, sir!1863, H. Broughton, The Dawk Bungalow, page 9:
"Can't do much harm by losing twenty chicks," observed the colonel, in Anglo-Indian argot, as the lot was knocked down to him; "and after all, there is a good deal of uncertainty about steeplechasing."1876, George Tomkyns Chesney, The Dilemma, volume 1, page 132: