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show the white feather
Idioms and Phrases
Display cowardice, as in The minute Bob put up his fists, Bill showed the white feather and backed down . This expression comes from cockfighting, where a white feather in a bird's tail is considered a sign of inferior breeding. [Early 1800s]Example Sentences
On the other hand, they frequently win, and it would be foolish to show the white feather until he knows a little more about the hands of his adversaries.
The Iron Boy, however, possessed too much grit to show the white feather.
This isn't the time to show the white feather.
He could not, therefore, afford to show the white feather, and though he hesitated, it was not for long.
Would you have me show the white feather now, when so many have been kidnapped?
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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