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chess

 - 9 dictionary results

chess

1   [ches]
–noun
a game played by two persons, each with 16 pieces, on a chessboard.
Use chess in a Sentence
Origin:
1150–1200; ME < OF esches, pl. of eschec check1

chess

2   [ches]
–noun,pluralchess, chess·es.
one of the planks forming the roadway of a floating bridge.
Origin:
1425–75; late ME ches tier, layer < ?

brome·grass

   [brohm-gras, -grahs]
–noun
any of numerous grasses of the genus Bromus, having flat blades and open clusters of flower spikelets.
Also called brome  [brohm] , chess.

Origin:
1750–60; < NL Brom(us) genus name (< Gk brómos oats) + grass
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
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World English Dictionary
chess1 (tʃɛs) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—n
a game of skill for two players using a chessboard on which chessmen are moved. Initially each player has one king, one queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights, and eight pawns, which have different types of moves according to kind. The object is to checkmate the opponent's king
 
[C13: from Old French esches, plural of eschec check (at chess); see check]

chess2 (tʃɛs) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—n
(US) a less common name for rye-brome
 
[C18: of unknown origin]

chess3 (tʃɛs) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
—n , pl chess, chesses
a floorboard of the deck of a pontoon bridge
 
[C15 (in the sense: layer, tier): from Old French chasse frame, from Latin capsa box]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Word Origin & History

chess
13c., from O.Fr. esches pl. of eschec (see check), from the key move of the game. The original word for "chess" is Skt. chaturanga "four members of an army" -- elephants, horses, chariots, foot soldiers. This is preserved in Sp. ajedrez, from Arabic (al) shat-ranj, from Pers. chatrang, from the Skt. word.
"The chess pieces are the block alphabet which shapes thoughts; and these thoughts, although making a visual design on the chessboard, express their beauty abstractly, like a poem." [Marcel Duchamp]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Computing Dictionary

chess definition

games
A two-player game with perfect information.
Usenet newsgroup: news:rec.games.chess.
See also Internet Chess Server.
(1995-03-25)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © Denis Howe 2010 http://foldoc.org
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Abbreviations & Acronyms
CHESS
Community Health and Environmental Surveillance System
The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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CHESS
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