chief

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“
His old feeling of admiration for the chief was as strong as ever, and he felt a certain sympathy, too.

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Definitions (41)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (10)

  1. noun One who is highest in rank or authority; a leader.
  2. noun A chief petty officer.
  3. noun Nautical The chief engineer of a ship.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (25)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (2)

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Examples (50)

  • This chief was a crafty old savage, who had been desirous of remaining neutral in the strife.
  • He had frequently given proofs of great sagacity; but the chief was the following:--"During the winter, a large wide drain had been made, and over this, strong planks had been placed for our friend, the cart horse, to pass over to his stable. —  Anecdotes of the Habits and Instinct of Animals
  • Among the changes to which I look for the salvation of the modern world, one of the chief is the intellectual and moral elevation of the laboring class. —  Harvard Classics Volume 28 Essays English and American
  • Kill a heap Captain Skinner saw that his "talk" was making a deep impression, but the only comment of the chief was a deep, guttural "Ugh!" —  The Talking Leaves An Indian Story
  • Usually the form of the chief was as firm as the rock on which he stood. —  The Prairie Chief
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

principal ·  official ·  many ·  officer ·  noble ·  master

Used in the same contextWord Family

chief:   chiefs
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English chef, from Old French, from Latin caput, head; see kaput- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. from Middle English cheef, chefe, chef, rarely chief, head, head man, = Spanish jefe = Portuguese chefe, from Old French chef chief, French chef = Spanish Portuguese cabo = Italian capo, from Latin caput, head: see caput, capital, and cf. cape, a doublet of chief.
  2. from chief, adjective
 

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/tʃif/
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