chive
/t͡ʃaɪv/
chive noun: a perennial plant, Allium schoenoprasum, related to the onion.
Noun (1)
chive (plural chives)
- A perennial plant, Allium schoenoprasum, related to the onion.
- The leaves of this plant used as a herb.
- Chive herb. (attributive use)
- What a splendid pie, pizza-pizza pie / Every minute, every second, buy, buy, buy, buy, buy / Pepperoni and green peppers, mushrooms, olive, chives2002, “Chic 'n' Stu”, in Daron Malakian, Serj Tankian (lyrics), Daron Malakian (music), Steal This Album!, performed by System of a Down, Track 1
- The spring onion; the green onion; the scallion.
Noun (2)
chive (plural chives)
- A piece cut off; sliver.
- The filament which supports the anther of a flower; stamen, especially of saffron.
- […] in the place wher he bled, Saffron was after found to grow, whereupon the people séeyng the color of the chiue as it stoode, (although I doubt not but it grewe there long before) adiudged it to come to the bloude of Crocus, and therefore they gaue it his name.1577, Raphael Holinshed et al., The Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Ireland, London: John Hunne, Book 3, Chapter 14, “Of English Saffron,”
- […] to abate, and allay the fulnesse of red, we doe not see white vsed (as a colour too remote) but rather yellow, and that so farre-forth as some doe grinde a Chiue of Saffron with Vermillion, to make it the more pleasant, whereas white in like proportion mixed, would dimne, and decay it […]1610, Edmund Bolton, chapter 28, in The Elements of Armories, London: George Eld, pages 156–157
Noun (3)
chive (plural chives)
- A knife.
- For when that he hath nubbed as, / And our friends tip him no cole, / He takes his chive and cuts us down, / And tips us into a hole.1712, “A Budg and Snudg Song”, in Farmer, John Stephen, editor, Musa Pedestris, published 1896, page 32
- None of us know'd then—though the grabbing at Nan Turner's came off that very night—as Polly was the cause o' that 'ere, till it vos blown here at the Gate by some of the coves. Vell, she nammused, as you may guess, but fust poor old Madge Rhodes got a chive in her breather from Black Gil.1841, Henry Downes Miles, chapter XXXIX, in Dick Turpin, 4th edition, London: William Mark Clark, published 1845, page 267
- A file.
- A saw.
Verb
chive (third-person singular simple present chives, present participle chiving, simple past and past participle chived)
- To stab.
- Adieu to Haul-Cly, adieu to stopping Coaches, and adieu to all the hurry-scurry of Foot-Scampering, filing, chiving, milling, and sneaking[…]1728, James Dalton, A Genuine Narrative of all the Street Robberies committed since October last, by James Dalton and his Accomplices, page 59
- He was as good a man as Jacky at any weapon that could be named, and if Jacky were game for a chiving (stabbing) match, he (Kavanagh) was ready for him.1868 May, Cassell's Magazine, page 80
- To cut.
chive meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Arabic and Malay
chive in Hindi
- chives: herb
- प्याज़ pyāz
chive in Tamil
- வெங்காய இனப்பூண்டு
chive in Arabic
- plant
- ثُوم مُعَمَّر ṯūm muʕammar
- chives: herb
- ثُوم مُعَمَّر ṯūm muʕammar
chive in Malay
- plant
- kucai
More languagesFewer languages
- chive in Indonesian
- lokio, bawang batak
- chive in Persian
- تره tarre, گندنا gandanâ
Examples of chive in a sentence
- We was out with one another all the day getting drunk, so he took a liberty with me, and I landed him one on the conk (nose), so we had a fight, and he put the chive (knife) into me.1879 October, J[ohn] W[illiam] Horsley, “Autobiography of a Thief in Thieves’ Language”, in Macmillan’s Magazine, volume XL, number 240...
- I guyed, but the reeler he gave me hot beef, / And a scuff came about me and hollered; / I pulled out a chive but I soon same to grief, / And with screws and a james I was collared.1888 February 12, “A Plank-Bed Ballad”, in The Referee, reprinted in Farmer, John Stephen, editor, Musa Pedestris, published 1896, page 185:
- After the place got well where I was chived, me and another screwed a place at Stoke Newington1879 October, Rev. John William Horsley, “Autobiography of a Thief”, in Macmillan's Magazine, volume 40, page 503:
Synonyms of chive
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of chive
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | chives |
| alternative form | cive |
| alternative form | chithe |
| alternative form | chire |
| alternative form | chieve |
| alternative form | chife |
| alternative form | chiv |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | chives |
| present participle | chiving |
| past participle | chived |
| past | chived |
Origin of chive
From Middle English chive~cyve, from Old French chive~cive, from Latin cēpa (“onion”).
From Middle English chive, chyve, variant of chith, chyth, from Old English ċīþ (“shoot, scion, sprout”). Doublet of chit and scion.
From Romani chive, chiv, chivvomengro (“knife, dagger, blade”).
Words formed from chive
- Chinese chive
- civey
- garlic chive
- chive fencer
- shiv
- chive the darbies
- chiving lay
- chiving the froe
Words that rhyme with chive
34 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about chive
- What does chive mean?
- Chive means a perennial plant, Allium schoenoprasum, related to the onion.
- What is chive in Hindi?
- Chive in Hindi is प्याज़ (pyāz). See Chive meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use chive in a sentence?
- We was out with one another all the day getting drunk, so he took a liberty with me, and I landed him one on the conk (nose), so we had a fight, and he put the chive (knife) into me.
- What part of speech is chive?
- Chive can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce chive?
- Chive is pronounced /t͡ʃaɪv/.
- What is the plural of chive?
- The plural of chive is chives.
Words near chive in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: chive (page history and authors); chive (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-chive.ogg.
Cite this entry: “chive.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/chive. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.