alewife
1a North American fish, Alosa pseudoharengus, resembling a small shad.
Origin of alewife
1Words Nearby alewife
Other definitions for alewife (2 of 2)
a woman who owns or operates an alehouse.
Origin of alewife
2Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use alewife in a sentence
Bunch (Mother), an alewife, mentioned by Dekker in his drama called Satiromastix .
Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama, Vol 1 | The Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D.Among those with a familiar appearance were the sturgeon, perch, and pike, and a small fish resembling our alewife.
Overland through Asia; Pictures of Siberian, Chinese, and Tartar Life | Thomas Wallace KnoxThe Menhaden make their appearance in the spring with the arrival of the shad, alewife, blue-fish, and weak-fish.
Fast Nine | Alan DouglasThe tinker in like vein confesses that he has run up a score with Marian Hacket, the fat alewife of Wincot.
A Life of William Shakespeare | Sidney Leealewife in old English was applied to the women, usually very stout dames, who kept alehouses.
The Log of the Sun | William Beebe
British Dictionary definitions for alewife
/ (ˈeɪlˌwaɪf) /
a North American fish, Pomolobus pseudoharengus, similar to the herring Clupea harengus: family Clupeidae (herrings)
Origin of alewife
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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