cheatee 
cheatee (che-te'), . [< cheat 1 + -ee 1 .'] One 
who is cheated. [Rare.] 
Believe me, credit none; for in this city 
No dwellers are but cheaters and cheateea. 
T. Tomkis (?), Albumazar, v. 1. 
cheater (che'ter), . [< ME. chetour (spelled 
chetowre Prompt. Parv.), < OF. eschetour, es- 
clieiteitr, an escheater: see escheater. In the 
2d sense, < cheat 1 , r., + -er 1 , the two forms and 
senses being mingled : see cheat 1 .'} If. An es- 
cheater. 
I will be cheater to them both, and they shall be ex- 
chequers to me. Shak., II. W. of W., i. 3. 
2. One who cheats ; a cheat- 
Disguised cheaters, prating mountebanks. 
Shak., C. of E., i. 2. 
That old bald cheater, Time. B. Jonson, Poetaster, i. 1. 
cheatery(che'ter-i),. [< cheat 1 + -ery.~\ Fraud; 
imposition; deception. [Colloq.] 
cheating (che'ting), p. a. [Ppr. of cheat 1 , D.] 
1. Disposed to cheat or associated with cheat- 
ing; fraudulent; dishonest: applied to per- 
sons. 
To haggle like a cheating housewife. 
Fronde, Hist. Eng., viii. 
2. False; deceptive; made or fitted to defraud: 
applied to things. 
His cheating yardwand. Tennyson, Maud, i. 13. 
cheatingly (che'ting -Ii), adv. In a cheating 
manner. 
cheat-loaf i (chet'lof), . A loaf of cheat-bread. 
Passing away the time with a cheat loaf and a bombard 
of broken beer. B. Jonson, Masque of Augurs. 
Chough. Why is it called the Cheat-loaf? 
Col.'s Fr. This house was sometimes a baker's, sir, that 
served the court, where the bread is called cheat. 
Middleton and Rowley, A Fair Quarrel, iv. 1. 
Chebacco-boat (she-bak'6-bot), H. [So called 
from Chebacco, the' name of a small river in 
Essex county, Massachusetts, where these boats 
were built.] A type of vessel formerly much 
employed in the Newfoundland fisheries. See 
pinkie. 
chebbo (keb'bo), n. An old Venetian measure 
of length, equal to 4 Venetian feet, or 61.6 
English inches. 
chebec, chebek (she'bek), n. Same as xebec. 
chechinquamint, n. An early form of chinka- 
pin. Kersey, 1708. 
check 1 (chek), H. and a. [< ME. chek, chekke, a 
check at chess, also as an exclamation, check !, 
any sudden stop, repulse, defeat, < OF. eschec, 
eschek, eschac, echec, achec, echaic, etc., F. echec, 
a check at chess, repulse, defeat, pi. echees, 
chess, = Pr. escac = Sp. jaque = Pg. xaque = 
It. scacco (ML. scacci, pi., chess) = D. scliaak 
= OHG. schah, MHG. G. schach = Icel. skdk = 
Sw. schack = Dan. schak, < Pers. shah, a king, 
the principal piece in the game of chess: see 
shah. The literal sense of check! is 'king!' 
implying that the king is in danger (see chess 1 ). 
In sense 8 check is rather an abbreviation of 
checker, a square on a chess-board, prop, the 
chess-board itself (see checker 1 ). The later 
senses are chiefly from the verb. In sense 13 
check is in England also written cheque, in imi- 
tation of exchequer, with which it is remotely 
connected. ] I. n. 1 . In chess, an exposure of 
the king to a direct attack from an opposing 
piece, as a result either of a move made by 
this piece or of the removal of a piece that in- 
terposed. Warning of such an attack must be given 
to the player whose king is in danger by the word check ' 
If the king cannot be protected, he is "checkmated." The 
king cannot be moved into a position in which he will be 
in check. See chessi. 
The fair'st jewel that our hopes can deck, 
Is so to play our game t' avoid your check. 
Middleton, Prol. to Game at Chess. 
2f. A hostile movement; an attack; hence, 
disaster. 
Tins is a chapel of meschaunce, that chekke hit by-tyde ! 
Hit is the corsedest kyrk that euer I com inne. 
Sir Gawayne and the Green Knight (E. E. T. S.), 1. 2195. 
He watj mayster of his men & myjty him seluen, 
The chef of his cheualrye his chekkes to make, 
He brek the bareres as bylyue, & the burg after. 
Alliterative Poemi (E. E. T. S.), ii. 1238. 
3. A reprimand; rebuke; censure; slight. 
So we are sensible of a check, 
But in a brow, that saucily controls 
Our actions. Shirley (and FletcherT), Coronation. 
Let me implore your majesty not to give 
His highness any check for worthless me. 
Fletcher (and another), Queen of Corinth, iii. 1. 
4. The act or means of checking or restraining ; 
a stop ; hindrance ; restraint ; obstruction. 
They who come to maintain their own breach of faith, 
the check of their consciences much breaketh their spirit. 
Sir J. Hayward. 
940 
I have no remorse, and little fear, 
Which are, I think, the cheeks of other men. 
Shelley, The Ceuci, i. 1. 
No check, no stay, this streamlet fear; 
How merrily it goes. 
Wordsworth. 
Climate plays an important part in determining the 
average numbers of a species, and periodical seasons of 
extreme eold or drought seem ti) be the most effective of 
all checks. Daririn, Origin of Species, p. 75. 
5. A means of detecting or exposing error; an 
obstruction to the effect or acceptance of any- 
thing erroneous : as, one author serves as a check 
upon another in seeking the truth ; a check upon 
the accuracy of a computation or an experiment. 
6. In falconry, the act of a hawk when she 
forsakes her proper game to follow rooks, mag- 
pies, or other birds that cross her in her flight : 
as, the hawk made a check, or flew at or on check. 
Hence 7. Base game, such as rooks, small 
birds, etc. 8. A pattern of squares of alternat- 
ing colors. Properly a check should have no divisions 
between the squares more than a thin boundary line ; that 
is, it should resemble the ordinary chess-board. See plaid. 
Hence 9. A fabric having such a pattern. 
10. A mark put against names or items on go- 
ing over a list, to indicate that they have been 
verified, compared, or otherwise examined. 
1 1 . Any counter-register used as a security, as 
the correspondent cipher of a bank-note, a cor- 
responding indenture, etc. ; a counterfoil. 
12. A token, usually in the form of a written 
or printed slip of paper or a stamped piece of 
metal, given as a means of identification, as to 
a railroad-passenger to identify his baggage, or 
(by a conductor) as a substitute for his ticket, 
or to a person leaving a theater with the inten- 
tion of returning, as a means of showing his right 
to admission on his return and of identifying 
his seat. Checks for baggage are generally of brass and 
in duplicate, one being attached to the piece of baggage 
checked and the other given to the owner. 
13. A written order for money drawn on a bank 
or private banker or bank-cashier, payable to 
a person named, or to his order, or to bearer. 
In legal effect it is a bill of exchange. [In Eng- 
land commonly spelled cheque.~\ 14. A roll 
or book containing the names of persons who 
are attendants and in the pay of a king or great 
personage, as domestic servants. Also called 
check-roll, checker-roll. 15. Sameasc/iecfc-raj. 
16. A pad on the back part of a pianoforte- 
key, which catches the head of the hammer as 
it falls and prevents it from rebounding. 17. 
In mining, a slight fault or dislocation of the 
strata. See fault. 18. An alphabetic sound 
produced with complete stoppage of the cur- 
rent of breath ; a mute Certified check. Seecer- 
t ify.~ Clerk of the Check, (a) In the household of the 
British sovereign, an officer who has the control of the 
yeomen of the guard and all the usher; belonging to the 
royal family, the care of the watch, etc. (ii) In the British 
royal dockyards, an officer who keeps a register of all the 
men employed in the public service at the port where he 
is stationed. Crossed check, in Great Britain, a bank- 
check having the words " and company " or any abbrevia- 
tion thereof (usually "& Co.") written between two par- 
allel lines across its face. In this form it is crossed gen- 
erally, and can be used only by paying it into some bank. 
When the name of a bank is inserted before the words 
"& Co.," the check is crossed specially, and can be used 
only by paying it into that bank, drawing against it by 
ordinary check if need be. Sometimes the words "not 
negotiable " are added. The object of this proceeding is 
to facilitate the tracing of checks if lost when sent by 
mail. Crossed Checks Act, an English statute of 1876 
(39 and 40 Viet., c. 81), which introduced "non-negoti- 
able" checks, that is to say, instruments which are freely 
negotiable, but to which a bona-flde holder for valne does 
not acquire a new and independent title, but can have 
only such title as his transferror had. A thief or finder 
can have no title, and therefore cannot convey one. Byles 
on Bills, 7th ed., 26. Recoil-check, any device used to 
check the recoil of a piece of ordnance, such as hydraulic, 
pneumatic, or rubber buffers, friction-plates, friction- 
clamps, spiral or other springs, check-ropes, etc. To 
certify a check. See certify. To take checkt, to take 
offense. [Rare.] 
Say I should wed her, would not my wise subjects 
Take check, and think it strange ? perhaps revolt ? 
Dryden. 
II. a. Ornamented with a checkered pat- 
tern ; checkered : as, a check shirt. 
check 1 (chek), r. [< ME. chekken, offer check (at 
chess: in other senses mod.); cf. OF. esche- 
quier, esehecquier, play chess, check, check- 
mate, later also eschequer, mark with checks ; 
from the noun.] I. trans. 1. In chess, to place 
(one's adversary's king) in danger by a direct 
attack from any piece. See check 1 , n., 1. The 
word is sometimes used of similar attacks upon other 
important pieces, as the queen. 
2. To stop suddenly or forcibly; curb; restrain. 
Gently he raised her and the while 
Checked with a glance the circle's smile. 
Scott, L, of the L, vi. 27. 
checker 
The spoiler came, yet paused, as though 
So meek a victim cheeked his arm. 
Barhaui, On the Death of a Daughter. 
Said the good nuns would check her gadding tongue. 
Tennyson, Guinevere. 
3. Naut. : (a) To ease off (a little of a rope 
which is too tightly strained). (6) To stop or 
regulate the motion of, as a cable when it is 
running out too violently. 4. To restrain by 
rebuke; chide or reprove. 
Richard with his eye brimful of tears, 
Then check'd and rated by Northumberland 
Did speak these words. Shak., 2 Hen. IV., iii. 1. 
Some men in the Fair, that were more observing and 
less prejudiced than the rest, began to check and blame 
the baser sort, for their continual abuses done by them to 
the Men. Bunyan, Pilgrim's Progress, p. 156. 
5. To mark in checks or small squares. 6. 
To compare with a counterfoil or something 
similar, with a view to ascertain authenticity 
or accuracy; control by a counter-register; test 
the accuracy of by comparison with vouchers 
or a duplicate: as, to check: an account. 7. 
To note with a mark as having been examined, 
or for some other purpose ; mark off from a 
list after examination or verification: as, to 
check the items of a bill ; to check the names on 
a voting-list. 8. To attach a check to, for the 
purpose of identification : as, to check baggage. 
II. intrans. 1. To make a stop; stop; pause: 
generally with at. 
And she, that dar'd all dangers to ]x>ssess him, 
Will check at nothing to revenge the loss 
Of what she held so dear. 
Fletcher, Double Marriage, v. 2. 
The miller perceived his wheel to check on the sudden, 
which made him look out, and so he found the child sitting 
up to the waist in the shallow water beneath the mill. 
Winthrop, Hist. New England, II. 326. 
2f. To clash or interfere. 
They do best, who if they cannot but admit love, yet 
. . . sever it wholly from their serious affairs and actions 
of life; for if it check once with business, it troubleth 
men's fortunes. Bacon, Of Love. 
3f. To exercise a check. 
I'll avoid his presence, 
It checks too strong upon me. Dryden. 
4. In falconry, to forsake the prey and follow 
small birds, as a hawk : with at. 
Flatterers are kites 
That check at sparrows. 
Chapman, Bussy D'Ambois, iii. 1. 
Like the haggard, check at every feather 
That comes before his eye. Shak., T. N., iii. 1. 
5. To split, crack, or seam in seasoning or dry- 
ing, or by becoming too dry, as timber, paint- 
ed or varnished surfaces, and the like. 
check 2 (chek), n. Same as cheek, 2 (I). 
check 3 (chek), n. Same as chack%. [Scotch.] 
check-book (chek'buk), n. A book containing 
blank checks on a bank or banker, or on the 
cashier of a business establishment. The check- 
forms are so printed that opposite each one there is a stub 
of paper which is left in the book when the check is 
detached, and on which it is usual to enter the date and 
amount of the check and the name of the payee, for the 
purpose of keeping an account of the transaction. 
check-bridge (chek'brij), n. See bridge!. 
check-chain (chek'chan), n. A chain connect- 
ing the body of a car to its truck, and designed 
to keep the latter from swinging transversely 
to the track if the wheels leave the rails. 
check-clerk (chek'klerk), n. A clerk whose 
business it is to check the accounts of others, 
their time of attendance at work, etc. 
check-cord (chek'kord), . 1. A long cord at- 
tached to the collar of a hunting-dog to bring 
him to a sudden stop at the word of command 
from the trainer. 2. In a carriage or other ve- 
hicle, a cord to be pulled as a signal ; a check- 
string. 
checked (chekt), p. a. [Pp. of check 1 , v., for 
checker 1 . Cf. check 1 , n., 8.J Checkered or va- 
riegated. Spenser. 
Bring rich carnations, flower-de-luces, lilies, 
The checgued and purple-ringed daffodillies. 
B. Jonson, Pan's Anniversary. 
check-end (chek'end), . An ornamental de- 
vice often printed on the end of a bank-check, 
draft, Or money-order, intended to make coun- 
terfeiting difficult and its detection easy. The 
check is sometimes irregularly torn or cut through the 
check-end, and will accordingly fit exactly the part left, 
while the counterfeit will not. 
checker 1 (chek'er), n. [Also written in Eng- 
land chequer, a recent and imperfect "resto- 
ration" of the F. form; < ME. cheker, chekker, 
chekkere, a chess-board, the exchequer, short- 
ened from escheker, the exchequer, < AF. es- 
cheker, eschfkier, OF. eschequier, eschekier, es- 
chiqmer, esehakier, a chess-board, hence the 
checkered eloth on which accounts were calcu- 
