chivvy

«chivvy» in Mova's school dictionary: To keep telling someone to hurry up or do something, in… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

verb (chivvy, chivvies, chivvied, chivvying; also spelt chivy)

meaning for a pupil

1) (mainly UK, informal) To keep telling someone to hurry up or do something, in an annoying way. tree →

2) To chase or hunt someone, or drive animals along. tree →

sense in the lessons

An everyday British word for nagging people to get moving: parents chivvy children to get dressed, teachers chivvy a class into line. In older stories (The Wind in the Willows) animals are chivvied and chased by others. Often followed by «along», «into» or «out of».

examples

• Mum chivvied us out of bed for school. tree →
• The teacher chivvied the class back inside after the bell. tree →
• The sheepdog chivvied the sheep through the gate. tree →
• Stop chivvying me, I'm nearly ready! tree →
• Dad chivvied everyone into the car. tree →
• In the story the weasels chivvied the poor rabbits. tree →

note

Mainly British. Past: chivvied (y → ie). Similar words: nag, hurry, hustle. Not rude, but it shows the person being chivvied may feel annoyed.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «chivvy» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.