Chestnut Chest"nut (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 Chest"nut adjective Of the color of a chestnut; of a reddish brown color; as, chestnut curls.
Chetah Che"tah (chē"tȧ)
noun (Zoology) See Cheetah .
Chetvert Chet"vert (chĕt"vẽrt)
noun [ Russian
chetverte .]
A measure of grain equal to 0.7218 of an imperial quarter, or 5.95 Winchester bushels. [ Russia]
Chevachie Chev"a·chie` noun See Chivachie . [ Obsolete]
Chevage Che"vage (chē"vaj)
noun See Chiefage . [ Obsolete]
Cheval Che·val" (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 Che·val"-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 Che`va·lier" 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 Che·vaux" (sh
e *vō")
noun plural See Cheval .
Cheve 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 Cheve·lure" noun [ French, head of hair.]
A hairlike envelope. The nucleus and chevelure of nebulous star.
Sir. W. Hershel.
Cheven Chev"en noun [ Confer French
chevanne .
Cf .
Chavender .]
(Zoology) A river fish; the chub. Sir T. Browne.
Cheventein Chev"en·tein noun A variant of Chieftain . [ Obsolete]
Chaucer.
Cheveril Chev"er·il 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 Chev"er·il adjective Made of cheveril; pliant. [ Obsolete]
A cheveril conscience and a searching wit.
Drayton.
Cheverliize Chev"er·li·ize intransitive verb To make as pliable as kid leather. [ Obsolete]
Br. Montagu.
Chevet Che·vet" 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 Chev"i·ot 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 Chev"i·sance 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 Chev·rette" noun [ French, from
chévre goat, from Latin
capra . Confer
Chevron .]
(Mil.) A machine for raising guns or mortar into their carriages.
Chevron Chev"ron 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 Chev"roned 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 Chev"ron·el noun (Her.) A bearing like a chevron, but of only half its width.
Chevronwise Chev"ron·wise` adverb (Her.) In the manner of a chevron; as, the field may be divided chevronwise .
Chevrotain Chev`ro·tain" 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 .
Chevy Chev"y transitive verb See Chivy , transitive verb [ Slang, Eng.]
One poor fellow was chevied about among the casks in the storm for ten minutes.
London Times.
Chevy Chev"y noun [ Written also
chivy , and
chivvy .] [ Prob. from the ballad of
Chevy Chase ; confer Prov. English
chevychase a noise, confusion, pursuit.] [ Eng.]
1. A cry used in hunting. 2. A hunt; chase; pursuit. 3. The game of prisoners' base. See Base , noun , 24.
Chew Chew (chu)
transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Chewed (chud);
present participle & verbal noun Chewing .] [ As
ceówan , akin to Dutch
kauwen , German
kauen . Confer
Chaw ,
Jaw .]
1. To bite and grind with the teeth; to masticate. 2. To ruminate mentally; to meditate on. He chews revenge, abjuring his offense.
Prior.
To chew the cud ,
to chew the food over again, as a cow; to ruminate; hence, to meditate. Every beast the parteth the hoof, and cleaveth the cleft into two claws, and cheweth the cud among the beasts, that ye shall eat.
Deut. xxiv. 6.
Chew Chew intransitive verb To perform the action of biting and grinding with the teeth; to ruminate; to meditate. old politicians chew wisdom past.
Pope.
Chew Chew noun That which is chewed; that which is held in the mouth at once; a cud. [ Law]
Chewer Chew"er noun One who chews.
Chewet Chew"et noun A kind of meat pie. [ Obsolete]
Chewink Che"wink noun (Zoology) An american bird ( Pipilo erythrophthalmus ) of the Finch family, so called from its note; -- called also towhee bunting and ground robin .
Cheyennes Chey·ennes" noun plural ;
sing. cheyenne .
(Ethnol.) A warlike tribe of indians, related to the blackfeet, formerly inhabiting the region of Wyoming, but now mostly on reservations in the Indian Territory. They are noted for their horsemanship.
Chian Chi"an adjective [ Latin
chius , from
Chios the island Chios, Greek ....]
Of or pertaining to Chios, an island in the Ægean Sea. Chian earth ,
a dense, compact kind of earth, from Chios, used anciently as an astringent and a cosmetic. --
Chian turpentine ,
a fragrant, almost transparent turpentine, obtained from the Pistacia Terebinthus .
Chiaroscurist Chi·a`ros·cu"rist noun A painter who cares for and studies light and shade rather than color.
Chiaroscuro Chia`ro·scu"ro Chi*a"ro-os*cu"ro noun [ Italian , clear dark.] (a) The arrangement of light and dark parts in a work of art, such as a drawing or painting, whether in monochrome or in color. (b) The art or practice of so arranging the light and dark parts as to produce a harmonious effect. Confer Clair-obscur .
Chiasm Chi"asm (kī"ăz'm),
Chi*as"ma (ki*ăz"mȧ) noun [ New Latin chiasma , from Greek chi`asma two lines placed crosswise, from ... to mark with a χ.] (Anat.) A commissure; especially, the optic commissure, or crucial union of the optic nerves. -- Chi*as"mal adjective .
Chiasmus Chi·as"mus noun [ New Latin , from Greek
chiasmo`s a placing crosswise, from
chia`zein . See
Chiasm .]
(Rhet.) An inversion of the order of words or phrases, when repeated or subsequently referred to in a sentence ; thus,
If e'er to bless thy sons
My voice or hands deny,
These hands let useful skill forsake,
This voice in silence die.
Dwight.
Chiastolite Chi·as"to·lite (ki*ăs"to*līt)
noun [ Greek
chiasto`s marked with a χ +
-lite . See
Chiasm . So called from the resemblance of the cross cuts of its crystals to the Greek letter χ.]
(Min.) A variety of andalusite; -- called also macle . The tessellated appearance of a cross section is due to the symmetrical arrangement of impurities in the crystal.
Chibbal Chib"bal noun (Botany) See Cibol .
Chibouque, Chibouk Chi·bouque", Chi·bouk" noun [ French
chibouque , from Turk.]
A Turkish pipe, usually with a mouthpiece of amber, a stem, four or five feet long and not pliant, of some valuable wood, and a bowl of baked clay.
Chic Chic noun [ French]
Good form; style. [ Slang]
Chic Chic adjective [ French Confer
Chic ,
noun ]
Original and in good taste or form. [ Colloq.]
Chica Chi"ca noun [ Spanish ]
A red coloring matter. extracted from the Bignonia Chica , used by some tribes of South American Indians to stain the skin. 2. A fermented liquor or beer made in South American from a decoction of maize. 3. A popular Moorish, Spanish, and South American dance, said to be the original of the fandango, etc.
Chicalote Chi`ca·lo"te noun [ Spanish , probably of Mex. origin.]
(Botany) A Mexican prickly poppy ( Argemone platyceras ), which has migrated into California.
Chicane Chi·cane" noun [ French, probably earlier meaning a
dispute , orig. in the game of mall (F.
mail ), from LGr. ... the game of mall, fr Pers
chaugān club or bat; or possibly ultimated from Latin
ciccus a trible.]
The use of artful subterfuge, designed to draw away attention from the merits of a case or question; -- specifically applied to legal proceedings; trickery; chicanery; caviling; sophistry. Prior. To shuffle from them by chicane .
Burke.
To cut short this chicane , I propound it fairly to your own conscience.
Berkeley.
Chicane Chi·cane" intransitive verb [ Confer French
chicaner . See
Chicane ,
noun ]
To use shifts, cavils, or artifices. Burke.
Chicane Chi·cane" noun (Card playing) In bridge, the holding of a hand without trumps, or the hand itself. It counts as simple honors.
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