Checker-berry, chek′ėr-beri, n. an American name for the winter-green (q.v.).
Checkers, chek′ėrz, n.pl. the game of draughts.
Checklaton, chek′la-ton, n. (Spens.) a cloth of gold or other rich material.—Also Cic′latoun. [O. Fr. ciclaton, from Ar., prob. from the same root as scarlet.]
Cheddar, ched′ar, n. an excellent kind of cheese first made in Somersetshire. [From the village of Cheddar in Somersetshire.]
Cheek, chēk, n. the side of the face below the eye, the fleshy lateral wall of the mouth: effrontery, impudence, as in 'to have the cheek' to do anything, 'to give cheek:' one of the side-posts of a door or window: the cheek-strap of a horse's bridle, the ring at the end of the bit: anything arranged in internal pairs.—v.t. to address insolently.—ns. Cheek′bone, the bone of the cheek; Cheek′-pouch, a dilatation of the skin of the cheek, forming a bag outside the teeth, as in monkeys, &c.; Cheek′-tooth, a molar tooth.—adj. Cheek′y, insolent, saucy.—Cheek by jowl, side by side.—To one's own cheek, for one's own private use. [A.S. céce, céace, the cheek, jaw; cf. Dut. kaak.]
Cheep, chēp, v.i. to chirp, as a young bird.—n. any similar sound. [From the sound, like Chirp.]
Cheer, chēr, n. disposition, frame of mind (with good, &c.): joy: a shout of approval or welcome: kind treatment: entertainment: fare, food.—v.t. to comfort: to encourage: to applaud: to inspirit—'to cheer up.'—v.i. in such phrases as 'How cheer'st thou?'—refl. as in 'Cheer thee.'—n. Cheer′er, one who, or that which, cheers.—adj. Cheer′ful, of good spirits: joyful: lively.—advs. Cheer′fully, Cheer′ily.—ns. Cheer′fulness; Cheer′iness; Cheer′ishness (Milton), cheerfulness.—adj. Cheer′less, without comfort: gloomy.—n. Cheer′lessness.—adj. Cheer′ly, cheerful.—adv. in a cheery manner: heartily.—adj. Cheer′y, cheerful: promoting cheerfulness. [O. Fr. chiere, the countenance—Low L. cara, the face.]
Cheese, chēz, n. a wholesome article of food, made into a round form, from the curd of milk coagulated by rennet, separated from the whey, and pressed into a hard mass.—ns. Cheese′-cake, a cake made of soft curds, sugar, and butter, or whipped egg and sugar; Cheese′-hop′per, the larva of a small fly, remarkable for its leaping power, found in cheese; Cheese′-mite, a very small insect which breeds in cheese; Cheese′-mong′er, a dealer in cheese; Cheese′-par′ing (Shak.), paring, or rind, of cheese.—adj. mean and parsimonious.—ns. Cheese′-press, a machine in which curds for cheese are pressed; Cheese′-renn′et, the plant Ladies' bed-straw, so called because used as rennet in curdling milk; Cheese′-vat, a vat or wooden case in which curds are pressed; Chees′iness.—adj. Chees′y, having the nature of cheese.—Cheese it (slang), stop, have done, run off.—Green Cheese, cheese not yet dried.—To make cheeses, to whirl round and then sink down suddenly so as to make the petticoats stand out like a cheese. [A.S. cése, cýse, curdled milk (Ger. käse)—L. caseus.]
Cheese, chēz, n. (slang) the correct thing, of excellent quality, [Colonel Yule explains it as Pers. and Hind. chīz, thing, the expression having formerly been common among young Anglo-Indians, e.g. 'These cheroots are the real chīz,' i.e. the real thing.]
Cheetah, chē′tah, n. an Eastern animal like the leopard, used in hunting. [Hind, chītā—Sans. chitraka, chitrakāya, having a speckled body.]