reeve
reeve (rēv)
noun
- in English history,
- the chief officer, under the king, of a town or district
- the overseer and chief peasant of a manor
- the elected head of a village or town council in certain Canadian provinces
Etymology: ME reve, earlier irefe < OE gerefa < ge- + base of *rof, row, number
reeve (rēv)
transitive verb rove or reeved, rove or roven rov′en, reeving reev′·ing
- to pass (the end of a line) through a block, ring, etc.
- to fasten by passing through or around something
- to pass a line through (a block, ring, etc.)
Etymology: prob. < Du reven, to reef, in sense “use a rope in or as in reefing”
reeve (rēv)
Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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