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 am never tired of the calms, and I enjoy a stiff gale like a Mother Carey’s chicken, so long as I can be on deck or in the captain’s cabin. 

From Letters from the Cape by Duff Gordon, Lucie, Lady

It was significant, this nightcap of Admiral Buzza—as the ram's horn to Jericho, the Mother Carey's chicken to the doomed ship.

From The Astonishing History of Troy Town by Quiller-Couch, Arthur Thomas, Sir

It is known to every English sailor by the name of Mother Carey's chicken.

From Wanderings in South America by Waterton, Charles

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)

This little schooner was in ballast, and skimmed over the seas like a Mother Carey's chicken; ranged up on our weather quarter and hailed us.

From Jack in the Forecastle or, Incidents in the Early Life of Hawser Martingale by Sleeper, John Sherburne