provost

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A university administrator of high rank.
2. n. The highest official in certain cathedrals or collegiate churches.
3. n. The keeper of a prison.
4. n. The chief magistrate of certain Scottish cities.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. One who is appointed to superintend or preside over something; the chief or head of certain bodies. The head of one of certain colleges (as of Oriel, Queen's, etc., in the university of Oxford, of King's College, Cambridge, Eton College, etc.): equivalent to principal in other colleges.
2. n. The keeper of a prison; a chief jailer.
3. n. Formerly, one holding a position in the English schools of fence higher than that of scholar and lower than that of master.
4. n. A temporary prison in which the military police confine prisoners until they are disposed of.
5. n. In the navy, an officer who is charged with the safe-keeping of a prisoner, pending his trial by a court martial, and who is responsible for his production before the court whenever his presence is required.

Wiktionary

1. n. Scottish local government The equivalent of mayor in some Scottish cities.
2. n. higher education A senior academic administrator; sometimes called the Vice-President of Academic Affairs.
3. n. religion The highest position in a monastery below an abbot.
4. n. A prison keeper, especially in the military.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. A person who is appointed to superintend, or preside over, something; the chief magistrate in some cities and towns
2. n. obsolete The keeper of a prison.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a high-ranking university administrator