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The chief harpooner, who also directs in cutting up the speck, or blubber; -- so called among whalers.

A place where provisions are kept; a buttery; a larder; a pantry. Chiefly Brit. dial. [MW10] In . . . his spence, or "pantry" were hung the carcasses of a sheep or ewe, and two cows lately slaughtered. Sir W. Scott. Bluff Harry broke into the spence, And turned the cowls adrift. Tennyson.

Thickest in the middle, and tapering to both ends; fusiform; -- applied chiefly to roots.

t, without elegance or dignity; -- formerly applied to things with a serious meaning; now chiefly applied to persons. "Neat and spruce array." Remedy of Love.

A Greek measure of length, being the chief one used for itinerary distances, also adopted by the Romans for nautical and astronomical measurements. It was equal to 600 Greek or 625 Roman feet, or 125 Roman paces, or to 606 feet 9 inches English. This was also called the Olympic stadium, as being the exact length of the…

Formerly, the chief magistrate of the United Provinces of Holland; also, the governor or lieutenant governor of a province.

anner characteristic of the stage; theatrical; artificial; as, a stagy tone or bearing; --chiefly used depreciatively.

Hence: Place of supply; source; fountain head. Whitehall naturally became the chief staple of news. Whenever there was a rumor that any thing important had happened or was about to happen, people hastened thither to obtain intelligence from the fountain head. Macaulay.

That which is stolen; stolen property; -- chiefly used in the plural.

A horse, especially a spirited horse for state of war; -- used chiefly in poetry or stately prose. "A knight upon a steed." Chaucer. Mounted upon a hot and fiery steed. Shak.

Any fraud not distinguished by a more special name; -- chiefly applied to sales of the same property to two different persons, or selling that for one's own which belongs to another, etc. Erskine.

the British coinage; as, a pound sterling; a shilling sterling; a penny sterling; -- now chiefly applied to the lawful money of England; but sterling cost, sterling value, are used. "With sterling money." Shak.

Fig.: The post of management or direction. And sit chiefest stern of public weal. Shak.

, appointed sticklers and trumpets whom the others should obey. Sir P. Sidney. Our former chiefs, like sticklers of the war, First sought to inflame the parties, then to poise. Dryden.

Having (such or so many) stories; -- chiefly in composition; as, a two-storied house.

Violent; passionate; rough; as, stormy passions. Stormy chiefs of a desert but extensive domain. Sir W. Scott.

To restrict; to distress or embarrass in respect of means or conditions of life; -- used chiefly in the past participle; -- as, a man straitened in his circumstances.

A military government; government by military chiefs and an army.

Pressure, strain; -- used chiefly of immaterial things; except in mechanics; hence, urgency; importance; weight; significance. The faculties of the mind are improved by exercise, yet they must not be put to a stress beyond their strength. Locke. A body may as well lay too little as too much stress upon a dream. L'Estra…

Anything that is, or may be, strewed; -- used chiefly in the plural. Shak.