Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To vex or harass with petty attacks.
- intransitive verb To maneuver or secure gradually.
- intransitive verb To scurry.
- noun A hunt or chase.
- noun A hunting cry.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- verb same as
chivy .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb To subject to
harassment or verbal abuse. - verb To
coerce , as by persistent request. - verb To sneak up on or
rapidly approach . - verb To
pursue as in ahunt . - noun A
goad .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb annoy continually or chronically
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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The nationwide vaccine campaign was deemed superfluous on the basis that it was for them to chivvy vulnerable patients into getting the jab.
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Given so many of us have our own private health and fitness goals it might help to chivvy people along.
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So what can be done to chivvy along a reclusive pop genius?
Don't Give Up, Dr Dre's new material will be arriving soon! 2011
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He doles out brisk advice and the occasional terse chivvy.
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If Cameron wants to liven things up, he should chivvy his hosts on a more intriguing question.
Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Medvedev: So which of the old allies is truly in charge? | Tom Parfitt 2011
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Walking on will only disturb them again and again, and having no wish to chivvy them the length of the beach we detour along the track through the dunes, regaining the sands with the gulls behind us and miles of beach ahead.
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As the tension eased he jerked his head, and warily the toughs began to chivvy the laborers into the trucks again.
Static 2010
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Soon after we arrived, when Joe had gone below stairs to chivvy the porters about our bags, and Annette and I were alone, I excused myself to visit the privy along the way.
THE NUMBERS 2010
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To chivvy the unconjugal to conjugate may to be store up greater unhappiness.
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Both are keen to promote excellence in schools, and this week Hunt asked Gove to chivvy academies where they "are onaverage teaching one third less GCSEs in history and geography" than bog-standard comprehensives.
Diary 2010
seanahan commented on the word chivvy
From Isaac Asimov's essay "Skewered", "I resisted that, along with repeated nudges from others in the years that followed... I was cornered by a fan and has Skewes' number requested of me. So I gave in. Eleven years of chivvying is enough."
September 10, 2007
chained_bear commented on the word chivvy
Another usage on chivvied.
October 15, 2008
madmouth commented on the word chivvy
"My dear, I should like to stick you full of barbed arrows like a p-p-pin cushion...Where do you lurk? I shall come down your burrow and ch-chivvy you out like an old st-t-toat." -Anthony Blanche in Brideshead Revisited, Waugh
April 6, 2011