chevy

plural chevies · alternative chivy · alternative chivey

1. countableA hunt or pursuit; a chase.

   1 more example

   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.

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

2. countableA cry used in hunting.
3. uncountableThe game of prisoners' bars.

present singular third person chevies · participle present chevying · participle past chevied · past chevied · alternative chivy

1. transitiveTo chase or hunt.

   Hostler Jack chevies the Pardoner, who drops his pan, […]

   1887, F[rederick] J[ames] Furnivall, W. G. Stone, editors, The Tale of Beryn, with a Prologue of the Merry Adventure of the Pardoner with a Tapster at Canterbury. Re-edited from the Duke of Northumberland’s Unique Ms. […] (Supplementary Canterbury Tales; 1), London: Publisht for the Chaucer Society by N[icholas] Trübner & Co., […], →OCLC, marginal note, page 19

   2 more examples

   […] John, before taking his departure, had left the stable door and the front gate open, and that Tartar [a horse], having no halter on, had quietly walked out into the high road, and had been chevied up and down by the boys for the last quarter of an hour.

   1868 January, “Miss Sophy’s Crutch”, in London Society. An Illustrated Magazine of Light and Amusing Literature for the Hours of Relaxation, volume XIII, number LXXIII, London: Office, 217, Piccadilly, W. [printed by William Clowes and Sons, […]], →OCLC, chapter I, page 76, column 1

   [I]t seemed rather a piquant thing to us to chevy him about the playground and hit him over the shins with a wicket.

   1893 (indicated as 1894), A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “The Naval Treaty”, in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, London: George Newnes, […], →OCLC, page 215

   Synonyms: hound, pursue

2. transitiveTo vex or harass with petty attacks.

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

   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

   2 more examples

   So when I was done, and the fishing was as good as the start, I cut a long "staddle," with a bush at the top, and I just went for that school of trout. I chevied, harried and scattered them, up stream and down, until I could not see a fish.

   1883, “Nessmuk” [pseudonym; George Washington Sears]; Charles F. Orvis and A. Nelson Cheney, compilers, “Trout: Meeting Them on the ‘June Rise’”, in Fishing with the Fly: Sketches by Lovers of the Art, with Illustrations of Standard Flies, Manchester, Vt.: C. F. Orvis, →OCLC, page 167

   "They're chevying that poor animal [a dog] again," he said hotly. "It's scandalous." / "Rupert can take care of himself," said the mate calmly, continuing his meal. "I expect, if the truth's known, it's him 's been doin' the chevying."

   1898, W[illiam] W[ymark] Jacobs, “Pickled Herring”, in Sea Urchins, London: Lawrence and Bullen, Ltd. […], →OCLC, page 160

   Synonyms: beleaguer, beset, plague, badger, bait, bedevil, beleaguer, persecute

3. transitiveTo maneuver or secure gradually.
4. alternativetransitiveAlternative spelling of chivvy.

   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.

   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

   3 more examples

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

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

   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.

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

   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.

   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

5. intransitiveTo scurry.

   Synonyms: scamper

alternative Chevie · alternative Chevvie · alternative Chevvy

1. abbreviationclippingClipping of Chevrolet, a brand of car produced by General Motors.

   Chevy has introduced a new model for 1964: the Malibu. See your dealer today!

   1 more example

   GM [General Motors] namecalled Chevy’s Ford-beating sales in its press release.

   2025 June 11, Ben Shimkus, “Ford slips down sales list as century-old nemesis makes fun of slump”, in Daily Mail, London: DMG Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 12 Jun 2025

plural Chevies · alternative Chevie · alternative Chevvie · alternative Chevvy

1. informalA vehicle of this make.

   I saw a late-model Chevy pull around back. That would have been around 10 PM.

   1 more example

   Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry […]

   1971, Don McLean, "American Pie" (song)

   Synonyms: Chevrolet

alternative Chevie

1. A unisex given name