pullet

noun

Etymology: From Middle English polet, pulet, from Anglo-Norman pullet, Old French poulet (“young chicken”); polette (“young hen”), from poule (“hen”), from Vulgar Latin pulla, feminine form of pullus. Doublet of poult. Compare also Middle English pulle. By surface analysis, pull(us) + -et.

1. A young hen, especially one less than a year old.

   “They died not because the Pullets would not feed: but because the Devil foresaw their death, he contrived that abstinence in them.”

   “The dinner-hour being arrived, Black George carried her up a pullet, the squire himself [...] attending the door.”

2. A spineless person; a coward.
3. A girl or young woman.