chivy

English

Etymology

A variant of chevy.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃɪvi/

Noun

chivy (plural chivies)

1. Alternative form of chevy
   • 1846, “Portfire” [pseudonym], “Shots from an Old Six-pounder”, in Bentley’s Miscellany, volume XX, London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 243:

     The sergeants-major were always on the watch to report us if we went out of bounds. […] The moment we saw the sergeant-major, off we scampered over hedge, ditch, bog, and ploughed land, leaving him to catch or identify us if he could! […] Of all the serjeants-major, Howe, of the C company, ran the swiftest. Howe enjoyed these chivies. He frequently omitted to report us if we gave him a good breathing.

Verb

chivy (third-person singular simple present chivies, present participle chivying, simple past and past participle chivied)

1. Alternative form of chevy
   • 1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, “Stop Him!”, in Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, →OCLC, page 447:

     He wos allus willin fur to give me somethink he wos, though Mrs. Sangsby she was allus a chivying on me—like everybody everywheres.

   • 1889, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “Of the Swordsman with the Brown Jacket”, in Micah Clarke: […], London: Longmans, Green, and Co […], →OCLC, page 316:

     Odd's wouns! it was a proper hunt. Away went my gentlemen, whooping like madmen, with their coat skirts flapping in the breeze, chivying on the dogs and having a rare morning's sport.

   • 1869 August, [Rhoda Broughton], “Red as a Rose is She”, in Temple Bar: A London Magazine for Town and Country Readers, volume XXVII, London: Richard Bentley, […]; New York, N.Y.: Willmer and Rogers, →OCLC, chapter XVI, page 29:

     St. John remains in the outer room, looks at the clock, […] chivies the tabby cat; counts the flitches of bacon hanging from the rafters; […]

   • 1973, B. W. E. Alford, “A New Generation and a New Firm”, in W. D. & H. O. Wills and the Development of the UK Tobacco Industry, 1786–1965, London: Methuen & Co. Ltd. […], →ISBN; reprinted as Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Routledge, 2006, →ISBN, page 55:

     Some customers could now be relied upon to send in their orders regularly and, apart from having to chivy those who had fallen behind with their payments, this allowed travellers to concentrate their energies on securing new customers and on recovering those who had been lost to competitors.

   • 1981 November, Gardner Dozois, Jack C[arroll] Haldeman II, “Executive Clemency”, in Omni, New York, N.Y.: Omni Publications International; republished as Gardner Dozois, Geodesic Dreams: The Best Short Fiction of Gardner Dozois, New York, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Press, October 1992, →ISBN, page 35:

     He headed for home, walking a little faster now, as if chivied along by some old cold wind that didn't quite reach the sunlit world.

Anagrams

• Vichy