alewife Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun flesh of shad-like fish abundant along the Atlantic coast or in coastal streams
  2. noun shad-like food fish that runs rivers to spawn; often salted or smoked; sometimes placed in genus Pomolobus
    Alosa pseudoharengus; Pomolobus pseudoharengus.

WordNet

Ale"wife` noun
Wordforms
plural Alewives
Definitions
  1. A woman who keeps an alehouse. Gay.
Ale"wife` noun
Etymology
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.
Wordforms
plural Alewives
Definitions
  1. (Zoöl.) 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.

Webster 1913