Hypertext Webster Gateway: "alewife"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Alewife \Ale"wife`\, n.; pl. {Alewives}. [This word is properly
aloof, the Indian name of a fish. See Winthrop on the culture
of maize in America, ``Phil Trans.'' No. 142, p. 1065, and
Baddam's ``Memoirs,'' vol. ii. p. 131.] (Zo["o]l.)
A North American fish ({Clupea vernalis}) of the Herring
family. It is called also {ellwife}, {ellwhop}, {branch
herring}. The name is locally applied to other related
species.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Alewife \Ale"wife`\, n.; pl. {Alewives}.
A woman who keeps an alehouse. --Gay.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
alewife
n 1: flesh of shad-like fish abundant along the Atlantic coast or
in coastal streams
2: shad-like food fish that runs rivers to spawn; often salted
or smoked; sometimes placed in genus Pomolobus [syn: {Alosa
pseudoharengus}, {Pomolobus pseudoharengus}]
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