no spring chicken
no spring chicken
slang No longer young or youthful. (A "spring chicken" refers to a young chicken.) I'm no spring chicken, so I can't stay out till 2 AM drinking and dancing anymore.
See also: chicken, no, spring
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
no spring chicken
Fig. a person well past youth; an old person. That actress is no spring chicken, but she does a pretty good job of playing a twenty-year-old girl. Jane: How old do you think Robert is? Jill: Well, he's certainly no spring chicken.
See also: chicken, no, spring
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
no spring chicken
No longer a young person, as in Sally's no spring chicken, but she plays a fine game of tennis. This unflattering expression, often applied to women, has been used since the early 1700s, although spring was omitted from the earliest citation (1711).
See also: chicken, no, spring
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
no spring chicken
ornot a spring chicken
If someone is no spring chicken or is not a spring chicken, they are no longer young. At 51, she's certainly no spring chicken. At 85, he's not a spring chicken, but Enrico Cuccia is busier than ever. Note: If you describe someone as a spring chicken, you mean that they are young. By comparison with the others, DelGuercio is a spring chicken. Note: A spring chicken was a young chicken that was ready to be eaten in the spring time, as opposed to an older bird.
See also: chicken, no, spring
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.
no (spring) chicken
not a young person. euphemistic 2005 Molly Hart Road to Ruination She must've been in at least her mid-forties, she was no spring chicken, but she looked good for her age.
See also: chicken, no
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
- be no spring chicken
- no chicken
- spring chicken
- spring
- chicken out of (something)
- chicken out of something
- chicken out
- you're chicken
- be full of the joys of spring
- full of the joys of spring