chivvy

Meanings

Verb

• To coerce or hurry along, as by persistent request.
• To subject to harassment or verbal abuse.
• To sneak up on or rapidly approach.
• To pursue as in a hunt.

Noun

• Something that encourages one to act; a goad, a spur.

Origin

• From chivy, chevy, from chivy, chevy, probably from the title of The Ballad of Chevy Chase, first published in The Complaynt of Scotland (1549); the ballad is about a hunt taking place on a chase in the Cheviot Hills between Northumberland and the Scottish Borders, and is thought to allude to the Battle of Otterburn in 1388.