From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishbantamban‧tam /ˈbæntəm/ noun [countable] HBAa type of small chicken
Examples from the Corpus
bantam• It must have looked like an angry bantam trying to see off a heron.• But there were rabbits by the dozens, and flocks of chestnut-colored bantams.• Here dear Anderson had built a retreat for her bantams - there was no man kinder or more trustworthy.• Poor bantam building block, what had you ever done since the beginning of time and space to deserve such shabby treatment?• The bantams were waiting for her to let them out of their safe house.Origin bantam (1700-1800) Bantam place in Java from where the birds were thought to have been brought to Europe 