CHANT, chant, _v.t._ to sing: to celebrate in song: to recite in a singing
manner: to sell horses fraudulently.--_n._ song: melody: a kind of sacred
music, in which prose is sung.--_ns._ CHANT'ER, CHANT'OR, a singer: a
precentor: in a bagpipe, the pipe with finger-holes, on which the melody is
played: one who cries up horses; CHANT'RESS; CHANT'RY, an endowment, or
chapel, for the chanting of masses; CHANT'Y, a sailor's song, usually with
a drawling refrain, sung in concert while raising the anchor, &c. [Fr.
_chanter_--L. _cant[=a]re_, _can[)e]re_, to sing.]
CHANTAGE, shan-täj', chant'[=a]j, _n._ extortion of money by threats of
scandalous revelations. [Fr.]
CHANTERELLE, shan-ter-el', _n._ the highest string of the violin, &c.: a
yellowish edible mushroom. [Fr.]
CHANTICLEER, chant'i-kl[=e]r, _n._ a cock. [From the name of the cock in
the old beast-epic of Reynard the Fox.] [O. Fr. _chanter_, to sing, _cler_,
clear.]
CHAOS, k[=a]'os, _n._ shapeless mass: disorder: the state of matter before
it was reduced to order by the Creator.--_adj._ CHAOT'IC, confused.--_adv._
CHAOT'ICALLY. [Gr.]
CHAP, chap, _v.i._ to crack: to strike, of a clock, &c.: to knock at a
door.--_v.t._ to fissure.--_n._ crack: an open fissure in the skin, caused
by exposure to frost: a knock.--_adj._ CHAP'LESS.--_p.adj._ CHAPPED,
cracked, of a heavy soil in dry weather, or of the skin in frost: cut
short.--_adj._ CHAP'PY. [M. E. _chappen_; cog. with Dut. and Ger.
_kappen_.]
CHAP, chap, _n._ a fellow, originally a customer, from CHAPMAN.--_n._
CHAP'PIE, a familiar diminutive.
CHAP, chap, _n._ generally _pl._ the jaws.--_adj._ CHAP'FALL'EN, a variant
of Chop-fallen (q.v.). [Northern Eng. and Scot. _chafts_--Scand., as Ice.
_kjaptr_, the jaw.]
CHAPARRAL, chap-a-ral', _n._ dense tangled brushwood. [Sp., prob. Basque
_achaparra_.]
CHAP-BOOK. See CHAPMAN.
CHAPE, ch[=a]p, _n._ the plate of metal at the point of a scabbard: the
catch or hook by which the sheath of a weapon was attached to the
belt.--_adj._ CHAPE'LESS. [Fr.,--Low L. _capa_, a cap.]