Chatwood Chat"wood` noun [ Chat a little stick + wood .] Little sticks; twigs for burning; fuel. Johnson.

Chaud-medley Chaud"-med`ley noun [ French chaude mêlée ; chaud hot + mêler (Formerly sometimes spelt medler) to mingle.] (Law) The killing of a person in an affray, in the heat of blood, and while under the influence of passion, thus distinguished from chance-medley or killing in self- defense, or in a casual affray. Burrill.

Chaudron Chau"dron noun See Chawdron . [ Obsolete]

Chauffer Chauf"fer noun [ Confer French chauffoir a kind of stone, from chauffer to heat. See Chafe .] (Chemistry) A table stove or small furnace, usually a cylindrical box of sheet iron, with a grate at the bottom, and an open top.

Chauffeur Chauf`feur" noun [ French, lit., stoker.] 1. [ plural ] (F. Hist.) Brigands in bands, who, about 1793, pillaged, burned, and killed in parts of France; -- so called because they used to burn the feet of their victims to extort money.

2. One who manages the running of an automobile; esp., the paid operator of a motor vehicle.

Chauffeuse Chauf`feuse" noun [ French, fem. of chauffeur .] A woman chauffeur.

Chauldron Chaul"dron noun See Chawdron . [ Obsolete]

Chaun Chaun noun A gap. [ Obsolete] Colgrave.

Chaun Chaun transitive verb & i. To open; to yawn. [ Obsolete]

O, chaun thy breast.
Marston.

Chaunt Chaunt noun & v. See Chant .

Chaunter Chaunt"er noun 1. A street seller of ballads and other broadsides. [ Slang, Eng.]

2. A deceitful, tricky dealer or horse jockey. [ Colloq.]

He was a horse chaunter ; he's a leg now.
Dickens.

3. The flute of a bagpipe. See Chanter , noun , 3.

Chaunterie Chaunt"er·ie noun See Chantry . [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Chaus Cha"us noun (Zoology) a lynxlike animal of Asia and Africa ( Lynx Lybicus ).

Chausses Chausses noun plural [ French] The garment for the legs and feet and for the body below the waist, worn in Europe throughout the Middle Ages; applied also to the armor for the same parts, when fixible, as of chain mail.

Chaussure Chaus`sure" noun [ French] A foot covering of any kind.

Chautauqua system (of education) Chau·tau"qua sys"tem (of education) The system of home study established in connection with the summer schools assembled at Chautauqua, N. Y., by the Methodist Episcopal bishop, J. H. Vincent.

Chauvinism Chau"vin·ism noun [ French chauvinisme , from Chauvin , a character represented as making grotesque and threatening displays of his attachment to his fallen chief, Napoleon I., in 1815.] Blind and absurd devotion to a fallen leader or an obsolete cause; hence, absurdly vainglorious or exaggerated patriotism.

-- Chau"vin*ist , noun -- Chau`vin*is"tic adjective

» To have a generous belief in the greatness of one's country is not chauvinism . It is the character of the latter quality to be wildly extravagant, to be fretful and childish and silly, to resent a doubt as an insult, and to offend by its very frankness. Prof. H. Tuttle.

Chavender Chav"en·der noun [ Confer Cheven .] (Zoology) The chub. Walton.

Chaw Chaw transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Chawed ; present participle & verbal noun Chawing .] [ See Chew .] 1. To grind with the teeth; to masticate, as food in eating; to chew, as the cud; to champ, as the bit.

The trampling steed, with gold and purple trapped,
Chawing the foamy bit, there fiercely stood.
Surrey.

2. To ruminate in thought; to consider; to keep the mind working upon; to brood over. Dryden.

A word formerly in good use, but now regarded as vulgar.

Chaw Chaw noun [ See Chaw , transitive verb ] 1. As much as is put in the mouth at once; a chew; a quid. [ Law]

2. [ Confer Jaw .] The jaw. [ Obsolete] Spenser.

Chaw bacon , a rustic; a bumpkin; a lout. (Law) -- Chaw tooth , a grinder. (Law)

Chawdron Chaw"dron noun [ Old French chaudun , caudun , caldun ; confer German kaldaunen guts, bowels, Late Latin calduna intestine, W. coluddyn gut, dim. of coludd bowels.] Entrails. [ Obsolete] [ Written also chaudron , chauldron .] Shak.

Chay root Chay" root` [ Tamil shāya .] The root of the Oldenlandia umbellata , native in India, which yieds a durable red dyestuff. [ Written also choy root .]

Chazy epoch Cha·zy" ep"och (Geol.) An epoch at the close of the Canadian period of the American Lower Silurian system; -- so named from a township in Clinton Co., New York. See the Diagram under Geology .

Cheap Cheap (chēp) noun [ Anglo-Saxon ceáp bargain, sale, price; akin to Dutch koop purchase, German kauf , Icelandic kaup bargain. Confer Cheapen , Chapman , Chaffer , Cope , intransitive verb ] A bargain; a purchase; cheapness. [ Obsolete]

The sack that thou hast drunk me would have bought me lights as good cheap at the dearest chandler's in Europe.
Shak.

Cheap Cheap adjective [ Abbrev. from "good cheap ": a good purchase or bargain; confer French bon marché , à bon marché . See Cheap , noun , Cheapen .] 1. Having a low price in market; of small cost or price, as compared with the usual price or the real value.

Where there are a great sellers to a few buyers, there the thing to be sold will be cheap .
Locke.

2. Of comparatively small value; common; mean.

You grow cheap in every subject's eye.
Dryden.

Dog cheap , very cheap, -- a phrase formed probably by the catachrestical transposition of good cheap. [ Colloq.]

Cheap Cheap adverb Cheaply. Milton.

Cheap Cheap intransitive verb To buy; to bargain. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Cheap-jack, Cheap-john Cheap"-jack`, Cheap"-john` noun A seller of low-priced or second goods; a hawker.

Cheapen Cheap"en transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Cheapened ; present participle & verbal noun Cheapening .] [ Middle English cheapien , chepen , to trade, buy, sell, Anglo-Saxon ceápian ; akin to Dutch koopen to buy, German kaufen , Icelandic kaupa , Goth. kaupōn to trade. Confer Chap to bargain.] 1. To ask the price of; to bid, bargain, or chaffer for. [ Obsoles.]

Pretend to cheapen goods, but nothing buy.
Swift.

2. [ Confer Cheap , adjective ] To beat down the price of; to lessen the value of; to depreciate. Pope.

My proffered love has cheapened me.
Dryden.

Cheapener Cheap"en·er noun One who cheapens.

Cheaply Cheap"ly adverb At a small price; at a low value; in a common or inferior manner.

Cheapness Cheap"ness noun Lowness in price, considering the usual price, or real value.

Chear Chear noun & v. [ Obsolete] See Cheer .

Cheat Cheat noun [ rob. an abbrevation of escheat , lands or tenements that fall to a lord or to the state by forfeiture, or by the death of the tenant without heirs; the meaning being explained by the frauds, real or supposed, that were resorted to in procuring escheats. See Escheat .] 1. An act of deception or fraud; that which is the means of fraud or deception; a fraud; a trick; imposition; imposture.

When I consider life, 'tis all a cheat .
Dryden.

2. One who cheats or deceives; an impostor; a deceiver; a cheater.

Airy wonders, which cheats interpret.
Johnson

3. (Botany) A troublesome grass, growing as a weed in grain fields; -- called also chess . See Chess .

4. (Law) The obtaining of property from another by an intentional active distortion of the truth.

» When cheats are effected by deceitful or illegal symbols or tokens which may affect the public at large and against which common prudence could not have guarded, they are indictable at common law. Wharton.

Syn. -- Deception; imposture; fraud; delusion; artifice; trick; swindle; deceit; guile; finesse; stratagem.

Cheat Cheat transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Cheated ; present participle & verbal noun Cheating .] [ See Cheat , noun , Escheat .] 1. To deceive and defraud; to impose upon; to trick; to swindle.

I am subject to a tyrant, a sorcerer, that by his cunning hath cheated me of this island.
Shak.

2. To beguile. Sir W. Scott.

To cheat winter of its dreariness.
W. Irving.

Syn. -- To trick; cozen; gull; chouse; fool; outwit; circumvent; beguile; mislead; dupe; swindle; defraud; overreach; delude; hoodwink; deceive; bamboozle.

Cheat Cheat intransitive verb To practice fraud or trickery; as, to cheat at cards.

Cheat Cheat noun [ Perh. from Old French cheté goods, chattels.] Wheat, or bread made from wheat. [ Obsolete] Drayton.

Their purest cheat ,
Thrice bolted, kneaded, and subdued in paste.
Chapman.

Cheatable Cheat"a·ble adjective Capable of being cheated.

Cheatableness Cheat"a·ble·ness noun Capability of being cheated.

Cheater Cheat"er noun 1. One who cheats.

2. An escheator. [ R.] Shak.

Chebacco Che·bac"co noun [ From Chebacco , the former name of Essex, a town in Massachusetts where such vessels were built.] (Nautical) A narrow-sterned boat formerly much used in the Newfoundland fisheries; -- called also pinkstern and chebec . Bartlett.

Chebec Che"bec noun (Nautical) See Chebacco .

Chebec Che·bec" noun [ Named from its note.] (Zoology) A small American bird ( Empidonax minimus ); the least flycatcher.

Check Check noun [ Middle English chek , Old French eschec , French échec , a stop, hindrance, orig. check in the game of chess, plural échecs chess, through AR., from Pers. shāh king. See Shah , and confer Checkmate , Chess , Checker .] 1. (Chess) A word of warning denoting that the king is in danger; such a menace of a player's king by an adversary's move as would, if it were any other piece, expose it to immediate capture. A king so menaced is said to be in check , and must be made safe at the next move.

2. A condition of interrupted or impeded progress; arrest; stop; delay; as, to hold an enemy in check .

Which gave a remarkable check to the first progress of Christianity.
Addison.

No check , no stay, this streamlet fears.
Wordsworth.

3. Whatever arrests progress, or limits action; an obstacle, guard, restraint, or rebuff.

Useful check upon the administration of government.
Washington.

A man whom no check could abash.
Macaulay.

4. A mark, certificate, or token, by which, errors may be prevented, or a thing or person may be identified; as, checks placed against items in an account; a check given for baggage; a return check on a railroad.

5. A written order directing a bank or banker to pay money as therein stated. See Bank check , below.

6. A woven or painted design in squares resembling the patten of a checkerboard; one of the squares of such a design; also, cloth having such a figure.

7. (Falconry) The forsaking by a hawk of its proper game to follow other birds.

8. Small chick or crack.

Bank check , a written order on a banker or broker to pay money in his keeping belonging to the signer. -- Check book , a book containing blank forms for checks upon a bank. -- Check hook , a hook on the saddle of a harness, over which a checkrein is looped. -- Check list , a list or catalogue by which things may be verified, or on which they may be checked. -- Check nut (Mech.) , a secondary nut, screwing down upon the primary nut to secure it. Knight. -- Check valve (Mech.) , a valve in the feed pipe of a boiler to prevent the return of the feed water. -- To take check , to take offense. [ Obsolete] Dryden.

Syn. -- Hindrance; setback; interruption; obstruction; reprimand; censure; rebuke; reproof; repulse; rebuff; tally; counterfoil; counterbalance; ticket; draft.

Check Check transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Checked ; present participle & verbal noun checking .] 1. (Chess) To make a move which puts an adversary's piece, esp. his king, in check; to put in check.

2. To put a sudden restraint upon; to stop temporarily; to hinder; to repress; to curb.

So many clogs to check and retard the headlong course of violence and oppression.
Burke.

3. To verify, to guard, to make secure, by means of a mark, token, or other check; to distinguish by a check; to put a mark against (an item) after comparing with an original or a counterpart in order to secure accuracy; as, to check an account; to check baggage.

4. To chide, rebuke, or reprove.

The good king, his master, will check him for it.
Shak.

5. (Nautical) To slack or ease off, as a brace which is too stiffly extended.

6. To make checks or chinks in; to cause to crack; as, the sun checks timber.

Syn. -- To restrain; curb; bridle; repress; control; hinder; impede; obstruct; interrupt; tally; rebuke; reprove; rebuff.

Check Check intransitive verb To make a stop; to pause; -- with at .

The mind, once jaded by an attempt above its power, either is disabled for the future, or else checks at any vigorous undertaking ever after.
Locke.

2. To clash or interfere. [ R.] Bacon.

3. To act as a curb or restraint.

It [ his presence] checks too strong upon me.
Dryden.

4. To crack or gape open, as wood in drying; or to crack in small checks, as varnish, paint, etc.

5. (Falconry) To turn, when in pursuit of proper game, and fly after other birds.

And like the haggard, check at every feather
That comes before his eye.
Shak.

Check Check adjective Checkered; designed in checks.

Checkage Check"age noun 1. The act of checking; as, the checkage of a name or of an item in a list.

2. The items, or the amount, to which attention is called by a check or checks.

Checker Check"er noun [ From Check , transitive verb ] One who checks.

Checker Check"er (chĕk"ẽr) transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Checkered (- ẽrd); present participle & verbal noun Checkering .] [ From Old French eschequier a chessboard, French échiquier . See Check , noun , and confer 3d Checker .] 1. To mark with small squares like a checkerboard, as by crossing stripes of different colors.

2. To variegate or diversify with different qualities, colors, scenes, or events; esp., to subject to frequent alternations of prosperity and adversity.

Our minds are, as it were, checkered with truth and falsehood.
Addison.

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