Alewives

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Alewife \Ale"wife`\, n.; pl. {Alewives}. [This word is properly
     aloof, the Indian name of a fish. See Winthrop on the culture
     of maize in America, "Phil Trans." No. 142, p. 1065, and
     Baddam's "Memoirs," vol. ii. p. 131.] (Zool.)
     A North American fish ({Clupea vernalis}) of the Herring
     family. It is called also {ellwife}, {ellwhop}, {branch


     herring}. The name is locally applied to other related
     species.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Alewife \Ale"wife`\, n.; pl. {Alewives}.
     A woman who keeps an alehouse. --Gay.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  alewife
       n 1: flesh of shad-like fish abundant along the Atlantic coast or
            in coastal streams
       2: shad-like food fish that runs rivers to spawn; often salted
          or smoked; sometimes placed in genus Pomolobus [syn: {Alosa
          pseudoharengus}, {Pomolobus pseudoharengus}]
       [also: {alewives} (pl)]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  alewives
       See {alewife}