rubber chicken

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   A hollow, bright yellow toy or prop depicting a plucked chicken that emits a squeak when…

   A hollow, bright yellow toy or prop depicting a plucked chicken that emits a squeak when squeezed.

   • The hack comic produced a rubber chicken, to the groans and boos of the audience.
   • Men who have squeaked the rubber chicken on Broadway, or wooed humanity with a fringe of swaying, porpoise-hide shoe-laces, were swallowed up in the gray shadows of the storm.
   • The rubber chicken is probably the best example of a prop used for schtick.
2. 2

   The mediocre food served at social events, especially political fundraisers.

   • The bill of fare consisted of an india-rubber chicken and boiled eggs.
   • It was the hoedowns and the caucuses and the rubber chicken dinners and the big DFL blowouts at the Minneapolis Auditorium.
   • She had felt the same way about attending political gatherings—the rubber-chicken luncheons and living room campaign coffee hours— back when Brandon had been a candidate for public office.
3. 3

   Used other than figuratively or idiomatically

   Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see rubber, chicken.

The neighborhood