like a chicken with its head cut off
English
Alternative forms
Prepositional phrase
like a chicken with its head cut off
- (informal) In a frantic, disorganized manner.
- c. 1900, Jack London, "To Build a Fire":
- His idea of it was that he had been making a fool of himself, running around like a chicken with its head cut off—such was the simile that occurred to him.
- 1911, Zane Grey, The Young Pitcher, ch. 9:
- Ken played or essayed to play right field for a while, but he ran around like a chicken with its head off.
- 1920, Harold MacGrath, The Drums Of Jeopardy, ch. 27:
- I've been running round like a chicken with its head cut off.
- 1962, "Nation: New Fail-Safe," Time, 28 Dec.:
- Says one Pentagon arms-control expert: "Our setup was actually designed to act in time of general war like a chicken with its head cut off. The brain could be destroyed and the nervous system severed. Then the military muscles would just jerk in uncontrolled spasms."
- 2003, Linda Lael Miller, Shotgun Bride, →ISBN, p. 121:
- Rushing around like a chicken with its head cut off would serve no purpose.
- c. 1900, Jack London, "To Build a Fire":
Usage notes
- Often preceded by the verb run around.
Translations
in a frantic, disorganized manner
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