chivvying

Verb

chivvy (third-person singular simple present chivvies, present participle chivvying, simple past and past participle chivvied)

1. (UK, transitive) To coerce or hurry along, as by persistent request.
   • Odd's wouns! it was a proper hunt. Away went my gentlemen, whooping like madmen, with their coat skirts flapping in the breeze, chivying on the dogs and having a rare morning's sport.1889, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “Of the Swordsman with the Brown Jacket”, in Micah Clarke: […], London: Longmans, Green, and Co […], →OCLC, page 316
2. (UK, transitive) To subject to harassment or verbal abuse.
   • He wos allus willin fur to give me somethink he wos, though Mrs. Sangsby she was allus a chivying on me—like everybody everywheres.1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, “Stop Him!”, in Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, →OCLC, page 447
3. (UK, transitive) To sneak up on or rapidly approach.
4. (UK, transitive) To pursue as in a hunt.
   • to chivvy the fox

   Synonyms:

   chase, hunt

See all 5 meanings of chivvy