Webster's Dictionary, 1913

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Cherup intransitive verb [ Prob. from chirp .] To make a short, shrill, cheerful sound; to chirp. See Chirrup . "Cheruping birds." Drayton.

Cherup transitive verb To excite or urge on by making a short, shrill, cheerful sound; to cherup to. See Chirrup .

He cherups brisk ear-erecting steed.
Cowper.

Cherup noun A short, sharp, cheerful noise; a chirp; a chirrup; as, the cherup of a cricket.

Chervil noun [ Anglo-Saxon cerfille , from Latin caerefolium , chaerephyllum , Greek ...; ... to rejoice + ... leaf.] (Botany) A plant ( Anthriscus cerefolium ) with pinnately divided aromatic leaves, of which several curled varieties are used in soups and salads.

Ches pret. of Chese . [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Chese transitive verb To choose [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Chesible noun See Chasuble .

Cheslip noun (Zoology) The wood louse. [ Prov. Eng.]

Chess noun [ Middle English ches , French échecs , prop. plural of échec check. See 1st Check .] A game played on a chessboard, by two persons, with two differently colored sets of men, sixteen in each set. Each player has a king, a queen, two bishops, two knights, two castles or rooks, and eight pawns.

Chess noun (Botany) A species of brome grass ( Bromus secalinus ) which is a troublesome weed in wheat fields, and is often erroneously regarded as degenerate or changed wheat; it bears a very slight resemblance to oats, and if reaped and ground up with wheat, so as to be used for food, is said to produce narcotic effects; -- called also cheat and Willard's bromus . [ U. S.]

» Other species of brome grass are called upright chess , soft chess , etc.

Chess-apple noun The wild service of Europe ( Purus torminalis ).

Chessboard noun The board used in the game of chess, having eight rows of alternate light and dark squares, eight in each row. See Checkerboard .

» The chessboard and the checkerboard are alike.

Chessel noun The wooden mold in which cheese is pressed. Simmonds.

Chesses noun plural [ Confer French chassis a framework of carpenty.] (Mil.) The platforms, consisting of two or more planks doweled together, for the flooring of a temporary military bridge. Wilhelm.

»A singular, chess , is sometimes used. "Each chess consists of three planks." Farrow.

Chessil noun [ Middle English chesil , Anglo-Saxon ceosel gravel, sand.] Gravel or pebbles. Halliwell.

Chessman noun ; plural Chessmen . A piece used in the game of chess.

Chessom noun [ Confer Chisley .] Mellow earth; mold. [ Obsolete] Bacon.

Chesstree noun [ Confer French chassis a framework of carpentry.] (Nautical) A piece of oak bolted perpendicularly on the side of a vessel, to aid in drawing down and securing the clew of the mainsail.

Chessy copper (Min.) The mineral azurite, found in fine crystallization at Chessy , near Lyons; called also chessylite .

Chest (chĕst) noun [ Middle English chest , chist , Anglo-Saxon cest , cist , cyst , Latin cista , from Greek ki`sth . Confer Cist , Cistern .]
1. A large box of wood, or other material, having, like a trunk, a lid, but no covering of skin, leather, or cloth.

Heaps of money crowded in the chest .
Dryden.

2. A coffin. [ Obsolete]

He is now dead and mailed in his cheste .
Chaucer.

3. The part of the body inclosed by the ribs and breastbone; the thorax.

4. (Com.) A case in which certain goods, as tea, opium, etc., are transported; hence, the quantity which such a case contains.

5. (Mech.) A tight receptacle or box, usually for holding gas, steam, liquids, etc.; as, the steam chest of an engine; the wind chest of an organ.

Bomb chest , See under Bomb . -- Chest of drawers , a case or movable frame containing drawers.

Chest intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Chested .]
1. To deposit in a chest; to hoard.

2. To place in a coffin. [ Obsolete]

He dieth and is chested .
Gen. 1. 26 (heading).

Chest noun [ Anglo-Saxon ceást .] Strife; contention; controversy. [ Obsolete] P. Plowman.

Chest founder (Far.) A rheumatic affection of the muscles of the breast and fore legs of a horse, affecting motion and respiration.

Chested adjective Having (such) a chest; -- in composition; as, broad- chested ; narrow- chested .

Chesterlite noun [ See - lite .] A variety of feldspar found in crystals in the county of Chester , Pennsylvania.

Chesteyn noun The chestnut tree. [ Obsolete]

Wilwe, elm, plane, assch, box, chesteyn .
Chaucer.

Chestnut (chĕs"nŭt) noun [ For chesten-nut ; Middle English chestein , chesten , chastein , chestnut, from Anglo-Saxon cisten in cisten-beám chestnut tree, influenced by Old French chastaigne , French châtaigne , both the Anglo-Saxon and the F. words coming from Latin castanea a chestnut, Greek ka`stanon , from Ka`stana a city of Pontus, where chestnut trees grew in abundance, and whence they were introduced into Europe. Confer Castanets .]
1. (Botany) The edible nut of a forest tree ( Castanea vesca ) of Europe and America. Commonly two or more of the nuts grow in a prickly bur.

2. The tree itself, or its light, coarse- grained timber, used for ornamental work, furniture, etc.

3. A bright brown color, like that of the nut.

4. The horse chestnut (often so used in England).

5. One of the round, or oval, horny plates on the inner sides of the legs of the horse, and allied animals.

6. An old joke or story. [ Slang]

Chestnut tree , a tree that bears chestnuts.

Chestnut adjective Of the color of a chestnut; of a reddish brown color; as, chestnut curls.

Chetah (chē"tȧ) noun (Zoology) See Cheetah .

Chetvert (chĕt"vẽrt) noun [ Russian chetverte .] A measure of grain equal to 0.7218 of an imperial quarter, or 5.95 Winchester bushels. [ Russia]

Chevachie noun See Chivachie . [ Obsolete]

Chevage (chē"vaj) noun See Chiefage . [ Obsolete]

Cheval (sh e *vȧl") noun ; plural Chevaux (- vō"). [ French See Cavalcade .] A horse; hence, a support or frame.

Cheval glass , a mirror swinging in a frame, and large enough to reflect the full length figure.

Cheval-de-frise noun ; commonly used in the plural Chevaux-de- frise . [ F.; cheval horse + Frise Friesland, where it was first used.] (Mil.) A piece of timber or an iron barrel traversed with iron-pointed spikes or spears, five or six feet long, used to defend a passage, stop a breach, or impede the advance of cavalry, etc.

Obstructions of chain, boom, and cheval-de- frise .
W. Irving.

Chevalier noun [ French, from Late Latin caballarius . See Cavaller .]
1. A horseman; a knight; a gallant young man. "Mount, chevaliers ; to arms." Shak.

2. A member of certain orders of knighthood.

Chevaux (sh e *vō") noun plural See Cheval .

Cheve (chēv) intransitive verb [ Old French chevir . See Chievance .] To come to an issue; to turn out; to succeed; as, to cheve well in a enterprise. [ Prov. or Obsolete] Holland.

Chevelure noun [ French, head of hair.] A hairlike envelope.

The nucleus and chevelure of nebulous star.
Sir. W. Hershel.

Cheven noun [ Confer French chevanne . Cf . Chavender .] (Zoology) A river fish; the chub. Sir T. Browne.

Cheventein noun A variant of Chieftain . [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Cheveril noun [ Old French chevrel , French chevreau , kid, dim. of chevre goat, from Latin capra . See Caper , intransitive verb ] Soft leather made of kid skin. Fig.: Used as a symbol of flexibility. [ Obsolete]

Here's wit of cheveril , that stretches from an inch narrow to an ell broad.
Shak.

Cheveril adjective Made of cheveril; pliant. [ Obsolete]

A cheveril conscience and a searching wit.
Drayton.

Cheverliize intransitive verb To make as pliable as kid leather. [ Obsolete] Br. Montagu.

Chevet noun [ French, head of the bed, dim. from chef head. See Chief .] (Architecture) The extreme end of the chancel or choir; properly the round or polygonal part.

Cheviot noun
1. A valuable breed of mountain sheep in Scotland, which takes its name from the Cheviot hills.

2. A woolen fabric, for men's clothing.

Chevisance noun [ Of. chevisance , chevissance , from chevir come to an end, perform, from chef head, end, from Latin caput head. See Chieve , Chief .]


1. Achievement; deed; performance. [ Obsolete]

Fortune, the foe of famous chevisance .
Spenser.

2. A bargain; profit; gain. [ Obsolete] Piers Plowman.

3. (O. Eng. Law) (a) A making of contracts. (b) A bargain or contract; an agreement about a matter in dispute, such as a debt; a business compact. (c) An unlawful agreement or contract.

Chevrette noun [ French, from chévre goat, from Latin capra . Confer Chevron .] (Mil.) A machine for raising guns or mortar into their carriages.

Chevron noun [ French, rafter, chevron, from chévre goat, Old French chevre , from Latin capra she-goat. See Cheveril .]
1. (Her.) One of the nine honorable ordinaries, consisting of two broad bands of the width of the bar, issuing, respectively from the dexter and sinister bases of the field and conjoined at its center.

2. (Mil.) A distinguishing mark, above the elbow, on the sleeve of a non-commissioned officer's coat.

3. (Architecture) A zigzag molding, or group of moldings, common in Norman architecture.

Chevron bones (Anat.) , The V- shaped subvertebral arches which inclose the caudal blood vessels in some animals.

Chevroned p. adjective Having a chevron; decorated with an ornamental figure of a zigzag from.

[ A garment] whose nether parts, with their bases, were of watchet cloth of silver, chevroned all over with lace.
B. Jonson.

Chevronel noun (Her.) A bearing like a chevron, but of only half its width.

Chevronwise adverb (Her.) In the manner of a chevron; as, the field may be divided chevronwise .

Chevrotain noun [ French chevrotin , Old French chevrot little goat, roe, dim. of chevre goat. See Chevron .] (Zoology) A small ruminant of the family Tragulidæ a allied to the musk deer. It inhabits Africa and the East Indies. See Kanchil .