chevy

[chev-ee] /ˈtʃɛv i/
verb (used with object), chevied, chevying.
1.
to chase; run after.
2.
to harass; nag; torment.
verb (used without object), chevied, chevying.
3.
to race; scamper.
noun, plural chevies.
4.
a hunting cry.
5.
a hunt, chase, or pursuit.
6.
the game of prisoner's base.
Also, chivvy, chivy.
Origin
1775-85; perhaps short for Chevy Chase

chivvy

[chiv-ee] /ˈtʃɪv i/
verb (used with object), verb (used without object), chivvied, chivvying, noun, plural chivvies.
1.
chevy.
Also, chivy.
British Dictionary definitions for chivy

chivy

/ˈtʃɪvɪ/
verb chivies, chivying, chivied, chivvies, chivvying, chivvied, chevies, chevying, chevied
1.
(transitive) to harass or nag
2.
(transitive) to hunt
3.
(intransitive) to run about
noun (pl) chivies, chivvies, chevies
4.
a hunt
5.
(obsolete) a hunting cry
Word Origin
C19: variant of chevy, probably from Chevy Chase, title of a Scottish border ballad

chevy

/ˈtʃɛvɪ/
noun, verb
1.
a variant of chivy
Word Origin and History for chivy

chivvy

v.

"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]

Chevy

n.

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.

Slang definitions & phrases for chivy

chevy

Related Terms

chivvy


Chevy

noun

A Chevrolet car (1930+)


chivvy

verb

To harry and annoy; badger; bug, hassle

[1821+; perhaps fr Chevy Chase, site of a skirmish between the English and the Scots, which came to mean ''a running pursuit'' in Yorkshire dialect; chivy came to mean ''pursue'']