Browse phrases beginning with: [A][B][C][D][E][F][G][H][I][J][K][L][M][N][O][P][Q][R][S][T][U,V][W][X,Y,Z] Like a chicken with its head cut offMeaning In a frenzied manner. Origin Poultry may sometimes run around frenziedly for several minutes after decapitation. The phrase was known in the USA by the late 19th century. It is recorded in print being used as a simile from the 1880s. For example, this piece about an escaped prisoner in The Atlanta Constitution, July 1882:
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