Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
[ad_1] verb (used with object), chev·ied, chev·y·ing.
- to chase; run after.
- to harass; nag; torment.
verb (used without object), chev·ied, chev·y·ing.
- to race; scamper.
noun, plural chev·ies.
- a hunting cry.
- a hunt, chase, or pursuit.
- the game of prisoner’s base.
verb (used with or without object), chiv·vied, chiv·vy·ing, noun, plural chiv·vies.
verb chivies, chivying, chivied, chivvies, chivvying, chivvied, chevies, chevying or chevied
- (tr) to harass or nag
- (tr) to hunt
- (intr) to run about
noun plural chivies, chivvies or chevies
- a hunt
- obsolete a hunting cry
noun, verb
- a variant of chivy
“harass,” 1918, from alternative form of chevy (1830) “to chase,” from a noun chevy (1824, also used as a hunting cry, c.1785), from chevy chase “a running pursuit,” probably from the “Ballad of Chevy Chase,” popular song from 15c. describing a hunting party on the borderland that turned into a battle between the English and the Scots (the incident probably late 14c.). The place is probably originally Cheviot Chase.
The old song of Chevy-Chase is the favourite ballad of the common people of England, and Ben Jonson used to say, he had rather have been the author of it than of all his works. [Addison, “spectator” No. 70, May 21, 1711]
by 1938, popular form of Chevrolet, U.S. automobile brand, which was founded by Louis Chevrolet and William Durant in 1911; acquired by General Motors in 1917.