cheese 
warm from the cow; it resembles white butter. Sim- 
mondg. Stilton cheese, a solid, rich, white English 
cheese, originally made at Stilton in Huntingdonshire, 
but now made chiefly in Leicestershire. 
cheese 2 (chez), . [Appar., through Anglo-Ind. 
or, less prob., Gipsy use, < Hind. (< Pers.) chiz, a 
thing, anything.] The thing; the correct or 
proper thing ; the finished or perfect thing : al- 
ways with the definite article. [Slang.] 
Some years ago the mashers of the day indulged in a 
slang expression by speaking of what pleased them as 
" being quite the cheese." A friend who had just returned 
from India after forty years' absence from England used 
this phrase to me, prefacing his remarks by the words 
"as we should say In India," and was not a little aston- 
ished to learn that the Hindustani word chlz, thing, had 
taken root for a season in England. 
If. and Q., 6th ser., IX. 44ti. 
cheesebowl (cheVbol), . [< ME. chesebollc, 
ehesbolle, poppy, apparX chew, cheese, + bolle, 
bowl, as if named from" the likeness of the cap- 
sule in shape to a round cheese ; but the forma- 
tion is uncertain.] The poppy, Papaver Klmas, 
etc. Also chasboui. 
The violet her fainting head declin'd 
Beneath a sleeping chatbmc. Dmmmoml, 1791. 
cheese-cake (chez'kak), . [< ME. chese-cakc 
(cf. D. kaaskoek), < chese, cheese, + cake*.] 1. 
A cake filled with a jelly made of soft curds, 
sugar, butter, eggs, etc. 2. A small cake made 
in various ways and with a variety of ingre- 
dients: as, lemon cheese-cake, orange cheese- 
cake, apple cheese-cake, etc. 
As goon as the tarts and cheexecake* made their appear- 
ance, he quitted his seat and stood aloof. 
Macatilay, Hist. Eng., iii. 
3. pi. A name with children for the immature 
fruit of the common mallow, Malua rotundifolia 
and M. sylvestris, on account of its shape. Also 
cheeses. 
cheese-cement (chez'se-ment*), n. A kind of 
glue, probably casein and an alkaline carbon- 
ate, used for mending broken glass and crock- 
ery, joining wood that is exposed to the wet, 
etc. 
cheese-cloth (ohez'kloth), n. A coarse cotton 
fabric of an open texture, used in cheese-mak- 
ing for wrapping the cheese. It is also used for 
other purposes, as for a ground for embroidery, etc., and, 
when made with a finer texture, for women's gowns. 
cheese-fat (chez'fat), . Same as cheese-vat. 
Scott. 
cheese-fly (chez'fll), n, A small black dipterous 
insect bred in cheese, the Piophila casei, of the 
family Muscidce, 
to which the 
house-fly, blow- 
fly, etc., belong. 
It has a very exten- 
sible ovipositor, 
which it can sink to 
a great depth in the 
cracks of cheese, 
where it lays its 
eggs. The maggot, 
well known as the 
cheese-hopper, is 
furnished with two 
horny claw-shaped 
mandibles, which it 
uses both for dig- 
ging into the cheese 
and for moving it- 
self, having no feet. 
It has two pairs of 
spiracles, one pair 
near the head and 
the other near the 
tail, so that when 
one is obstructed 
the other can be . < I .'- l g ot . t 
used. In leaping it 1 - ng . posl 
first brings itself 
into the form of a 
circle, and then by a jerk projects itself from twenty to 
thirty times its own length. 
cheese-hoop (chez'hb'p), . A wooden cylinder 
in which curds are pressed to drive out the 
whey. 
cheese-hopper (che>/hop"er), w. The maggot 
of the cheese-fly. Also called cheese-maggot. 
cheese-knife (ehez'nif), . 1. A wooden spat- 
ula used to break down the curd in the process 
of cheese-making. 2. A curved knife or scoop 
used to cut cheese at the table. 
cheeselip, cheeselep (chez'lip, -lep), n. [Also 
clteeslip, cheslip ; < ME. cheslepe, cheslippe, < AS. 
cyslybb, cyslyb (= OD. kaeslibbe, D. kaasleb = 
OHG. chesiluppa, MHG. kwseluppe, G. kaseluppe, 
kiisluppe, kaselipp), rennet,< cyse, cheese, + lybb, 
a drug, poison, = OHG. luppa, deadly juice, = 
Icel. lyf, medicine, = Goth, lubja, poison. Cf. 
Dan. ostelobe, rennet, < ost, cheese, + lobe, ren- 
net.] If. Rennet. 2. A bag in which ren- 
net for cheese is kept. 3f. The hog-louse. E. 
Phillips, 1706. 
Cheese-fly and Cheese-hopper (Piophila 
casei}. 
Dt, extended ; b, f, same, in leap- 
D ', d, e, hopper and fly, magni- 
fied ; f, /, fly, natural size, with ' 
panded and folded. 
wings ex- 
944 
cheese-maggot (chez 'mag "of), . Same as 
cheese-hopper. 
cheese-maker (chez'ma"ker), . The Withanin 
coagulans, a solanaceous slirub of Afghanistan 
and northern India, the fruit of which has the 
property of coagulating milk, and is employed 
instead of rennet, the latter being objection- 
able to the natives on religious grounds. 
cheese-mite (chez'mit), . A mite of the fam- 
ily Acariihc and subfamily Tyroglypkinif, Tyro- 
fflyphus (formerly Aeants) siro. It occurs not only 
in cneese, but in Hour, when it is known as theyftmr-//*/','. 
and in milk, when it is called the utilk-iuiti-. 
cheese-mold (chez'mold), . A mold or form 
in which cheese is pressed. 
cheesemonger (chez'mung"ger), . One who 
deals in or sells cheese. 
cheese-pale (chez'pal), . A sharp instrument 
of a semicircular concave form, like a small 
scoop, for piercing cheese to sample it. Also 
called cheese-scoop and eheese-taater. 
cheese-paring (chez'par"ing), . and a. I. . 
1. A paring of the rind of cheese. 2. Hence, 
figuratively, a mean or parsimonious disposi- 
tion or practice. 
II. . Meanly economical ; parsimonious: as, 
cheese-paring economy. 
cheese-press (chez'pres), n. A press for ex- 
pelling the whey from curds in cheese-making. 
The curds are placed in a cheese-hoop and this is put in 
the press. lu OIK; form of press a vacuum is created be- 
low the cheese-hoop, and the pressure of the atmosphere 
drives the whey out. In more common forms, screws, 
toggle-joints, and other devices are used to obtain pres- 
sure. 
cheese-rennet (chez'ren'et), n. [_< cheese + 
rennet. Of. AS. eyx-gewnn, rennet.] A name 
given to the yellow lady's-bedstraw, Galiuni 
rerum, used for coagulating milk. See cheese 1 , 
1. Also called cheese-runiiiiii/. 
cheese-room (chez'rom), . [< cheese + -room 
in mushroom.'] The common name in some 
parts of England of the horse-mushroom, Aga- 
ricus (irrensis. 
cheese-running (chez'run"ing), . Same as 
cheese-rennet. 
cheese-SCOOp (chez'skop), . Same as cheese- 
pale. 
Cheese-taster (chez'tas'ter), n. Same as cheese- 
pale. 
Cheese-toaster (chez'tos"ter), 71. 1. A fork, 
broach, or other contrivance for toasting cheese 
before a fire. Hence 2. A sword. [Slang.] 
With a good oaken sapling he dusted his doublet, for 
all his golden chea*e-toavter. 
Smollett, Humphrey Clinker, i. 12B. 
I'll drive my dieew-toanter through his body. 
Thackeray, Virginians, x. 
cheese-turner (chez'ter"ner), n. A shelf upon 
which cheeses are placed while ripening, and 
so arranged that by turning it they can be in- 
verted. 
cheese-vat (chez 'vat), . [Also written cheese- 
tat, and formerly, by corruption, chesford ; < 
ME. chexefat, < AS. cusefiet (= OS. kiesefat 
(-vat) = T>. kaasrat = MLG. keserat, LG. kesftit, 
kesefat = G. kaxefass), < vyse, cheese, + ftet, 
fat, vat: see fat 2 and rat.'] The vat or case in 
which curds are confined for pressing. 
cheesiness (che'zi-nes), n. [< cheesy + -ness.] 
The quality of being cheesy, or resembling 
cheese in consistence, taste, or odor. 
cheesy (che'zi), a. [< cheese^ + -f/ 1 .] Having 
the consistence, taste, odor, etc., of cheese ; re- 
sembling cheese in any respect; caseous. 
Cheesy degeneration or transformation, caseous de- 
generation (which see, under 0MMIU), 
cheet (chet), r. i. [Imitative ; cf. cheep.] To 
chatter or chirrup. 
cheeta. cheetah, . See chetah. 
cheetal (che'tal), . [Hind, chital.] The com- 
mon spotted deer of India, Cervus axis. 
Chef (shef), n. [ME. chef, var. of chief, < OF. 
chef, mod. F. chef, head: see chief. ] It. An obso- 
lete form of chief. 2. [Mod.] A head or chief ; 
specifically, a head cook, etc. 3. A reliquary 
in the shape of a human head with or without 
the shoulders, either standing alone or placed 
upon a substructure or base, formerly made to 
receive the whole or a portion of the head of a 
saint or martyr. Chefs were commonly made of met- 
al, as copper, fashioned l>y the repousse process, gilded, 
chased, and otherwise ornamented ; but they were some- 
times carved in wood and covered with thill plates of silver 
or gold. See cut in next column. Chef d'attaque, the 
leader of an orchestra (first violin) or of a chorus.- Chef 
d'orchestre. (a) The leader of an orchestra. (6) The di- 
rector or conductor of an orchestra. 
chef-d'oeuvre (she-de'yr), n. ; pi. chefs-o?cewre 
(she-de'vr). [F., a trial-piece, a masterpiece: 
chef, head; <le, < L. de, of; cenrre, < OF. owe, 
chela 
Silver Chef in the cathedral of Florence, containing part of the skull 
of Saint Zenobius. By Andrea di Ardito, 1330. 
oi-re, < L. opera, work: see chief, urel, and 
mtntcemer, manure.'] A masterpiece ; a super- 
latively fine work in art, literature, etc. 
The contest of Ajax and Ulysses, for the arms of Achil- 
les, in one of the latter Books of the Metamorphoses, is a 
chef-d'oeiivre of rhetoric, considering its metrical form. 
De Quincey, Rhetoric. 
chefet, n. and a. An obsolete form of chief, 
chefford (chef 'ord), . A dry measure formerly 
used at Archangel, equal to about two United 
States bushels. 
cheft (cheft), n. Same as chaft. 
chego (cheg'6), . A unit of weight for pearls 
in Goa. It seems to be from an eighth to a 
quarter of a carat. 
chegoe (cheg'6), . Same as chigoe. 
cheh. >i. See chili. 
Cheilanthes (kl-lan'thez), . [NL., < Gr. *?.<*, 
a lip, + aitfoc, a flower; in allusion to the form 
of the indusium.] A genus of ferns having 
roundish sori at or near the ends of the veins, 
each sorus being covered by an indusium formed 
from the reflexed margin of the frond. The ge- 
nns includes more than fifty species, widely distributed in 
tropical and temperate zones, the greater number grow- 
ing in the wanner parts of \mtli and South America. 
cheilo-. See chilo-. 
cheir (kir), . A shortened form of Cheiranthus. 
The wild cheir is the wallflower, C. Cheiri. 
Cheiranthus (ki-ran'thus), n. [NL., < Gr. x^P, 
a hand, + avffnf, a flower.] A genus of plants, 
natural order fruciferce, consisting of pubes- 
cent herbs or small shrubs with large yellow or 
purple sweet-scented flowers. The wallflower, 
C. Cheiri, is the best-known species. 
cheiro-. See chiro-. 
cliekt, n. An obsolete form of checki. 
chekeH( An obsolete form of cheek. 
cheke 2 t, . An obsolete form of choke 1 . 
chekefult, a. An obsolete form of choke-full. 
chekelatount, See ciclaton. 
chekelewt, a. See chokelew. 
eheke-mate+, n, and v. A Middle English form 
of checkmate. 
cheken (chek'en), n. The Chilian name of a 
myrtaceous shrub, Eugenia Cheken, the bark of 
which is astringent and is sometimes used as a 
remedy in catarrh. 
chekert, n. and v. A Middle English form of 
checker*-. 
Cheki (che-ke'), n. [Turk.] A Turkish unit 
of weight, probably derived from the Roman 
pound. Careful determinations at different dates have 
given the following values in grains troy : 1767, 4,933 ; 
1797, 4,942; 1801, 4,63; 1821, 4,950. It now weighs from 
4,942 to 4,943 grains troy, or about 320J grams. 
chekiet, An obsolete form of cheeky. 
chekmak (chek'mak), . A Turkish fabric of 
mixed silk and cotton, with golden threads in- 
terwoven. 
chela 1 (ke'la), . ; pi. chela; (-le). [NL., < Gr. 
X'i/'l, a claw, hoof.] 
1. The pair of pin- 
cers or nippers, or 
the so-called claw, 
which terminates 
some of the limbs of 
most Crustacea, as 
crabs and lobsters, 
formed by an enlarged propodite bear- 
ing a movably apposed dactylopodite ; 
the last and penultimate segments of a 
chelate limb or cheliped so modified as to con- 
stitute a prehensile organ like a pair of pincers. 
[Rare.] 
