chince

See also: Chince

English

Noun

chince (plural chinces)

1. (obsolete) Alternative form of chinch
   • 2010, Roy T. Sawyer, America's Wetland: An Environmental and Cultural History, →ISBN, page 72:

     I planted last spring 100 acres of ground in corn, it was in fine order and the season was good, but the chince bug (an enemy I never saw before) attacked it and instead of 1200 barrils I gathered but 600.

   • 2011, Willa Cather, O Pioneers!:

     Drouth, chince–bugs, hail, everything! My garden all cut to pieces like sauerkraut.

   • 2014, Lynette Ater Tanner, Chained to the Land: Voices from Cotton & Cane Plantations, →ISBN, page 179:

     Dere wasn't a chince [bedbug] on a one of em. Better not see a chince on a bed.

2. (obsolete) Alternative form of chintz
   • 1795, Joseph Hucks, A pedestrian tour through North Wales, letters, page 129:

     Tis true we have sometimes been obliged to cook our own victuals, sometimes to be content with very scanty fare, and sometimes with none at all ; nor were we ever indulged with down beds, chince curtains, or Turkey carpets

   • 1842, James Dennistoun, Sir Archibald Steuart Denham, Margaret Steuart Calderwood, The Coltness Collections, page 140:

     It is not a chince, I do assure you, it is an English cotton, which I value much more.

   • 1857, William Makepeace Thackeray, Burlesques:

     All the old women had peaked ats, and crooked cains, and chince gowns tucked into the pockits of their quiltid petticoats;

Usage notes

• This spelling is now proscribed and chinch (for the insect) or chintz (for the cloth) is used instead.