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chivvy - 3 dictionary results

chiv⋅vy

  [chiv-ee] verb (used with object), verb (used without object), -vied, -vy⋅ing, noun, plural -vies.
Use chivvy in a Sentence
chevy.
Also, chivy.

chev⋅y

  [chev-ee] verb, chev⋅ied, chev⋅y⋅ing, noun, plural chev⋅ies. British
–verb (used with object)
1. to chase; run after.
2. to harass; nag; torment.
–verb (used without object)
3. to race; scamper.
–noun
4. a hunting cry.
5. a hunt, chase, or pursuit.
6. the game of prisoner's base.
Also, chivvy, chivy.

Origin:
1775–85; perh. short for Chevy Chase
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To chivvy
chiv·vy or chiv·y   (chĭv'ē)   
v.   chiv·vied or chiv·ied, chiv·vy·ing or chiv·y·ing, chiv·vies or chiv·ies

v.   tr.
  1. To vex or harass with petty attacks: political opponents who chivvied the senator.
  2. To maneuver or secure gradually: "had spent two weeks chivvying this division toward combat readiness" (Tom Clancy).
v.   intr.
To scurry.
n.   pl. chiv·vies or chiv·ies
  1. A hunt or chase.
  2. A hunting cry.

[Variant of chevy, a hunt, hunting cry, from Chevy Chase, title of a ballad about a border skirmish, from Cheviot Chase, a large unenclosed hunting tract in the Cheviot Hills.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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