Mother Carey's chicken

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

I haven’t got the heart of a Mother Carey’s chicken.

From The Buffalo Runners A Tale of the Red River Plains by Ballantyne, R. M. (Robert Michael)

There is another interesting thing about Mother Carey's chicken, and that is, that he is also called petrel, from the Italian 'Petrello,' or Little Peter.

From Storyology Essays in Folk-Lore, Sea-Lore, and Plant-Lore by Taylor, Benjamin

You don’t want me to take in sail surely with this wind, you old Mother Carey’s chicken?

From Picked up at Sea The Gold Miners of Minturne Creek by Hutcheson, John C. (John Conroy)

I can repeat something, in the fairy-tale style, which was told me by Mother Carey's chicken, when we were waiting for the nestling to grow strong enough for us to make our journey.

From The Cricket's Friends Tales Told by the Cricket, Teapot, and Saucepan by Johnson, Virginia W.

The Spaniard was hardly a mile to windward, a long, low, rakish craft, as black as a Mother Carey’s chicken.

From The Cruise of the Snowbird A Story of Arctic Adventure by Stables, Gordon