chivy

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to chase, harry, or drive someone or something about persistently

   The dogs began to chivy the frightened sheep across the field.

2. 2
   verb

   to pester or annoy someone repeatedly with teasing, nagging, or petty demands

   Reporters continued to chivy the minister for an answer.

From the nineteenth-century British noun chivy ("a chase or hunt"), probably shortened from Chevy Chase, the name of a ballad about the 1388 Battle of Otterburn. The chase sense broadened to persistent teasing or nagging.

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