reeve

plural reeves · alternative obsolete reve

1. historicalAny of several local officials, with varying responsibilities.

   His first convert was the reeve of the city of Lincoln called Blæcca, ...

   1999, Bede, edited by Judith McClure and Roger Collins, The Ecclesiastical History of the English People, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 99

   Synonyms: provost

2. CanadaThe president of a township or municipal district council.
3. historicalgovernmentThe holder of a proposed but unadopted commissioned rank of the Royal Air Force, equivalent to wing commander.

   A list of new titles was manufactured as follows: Ensign, Lieutenant, Flight-Leader, Squadron-Leader, Reeve, Banneret, Fourth-Ardian, Third-Ardian, Second-Ardian, Ardian, Air Marshal. […] “Reeve”, perhaps, savoured a little too much of legal authority.

   1936, The Periodical, volumes 21-22, Oxford University Press, page 67

present singular third person reeves · participle present reeving · participle past reeved · past reeved · participle past rove · past rove

1. dialectalnauticalTo pass (a rope) through a hole or opening, especially so as to fasten it.

   "Let the rope go," he says. With his other hand he reaches down and reeves the two turns from the stanchion.

   1930, William Faulkner, As I Lay Dying, Library of America, published 1985, page 98

plural reeves

1. A female of the species Philomachus pugnax, a highly gregarious, medium-sized wading bird of Eurasia; the male is a ruff.

1. A surname originating as an occupation for a bailiff.
2. An unincorporated community in Vance Creek, Barron County, Wisconsin, United States.