Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A lay officer in an Anglican church, chosen annually by the parish priest or the congregation to handle secular and legal affairs.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In the Anglican Church, an officer whose business it is to look after the secular affairs of the church, and who in England is the legal representative of the parish.
- noun A long clay pipe.
- noun A shag or cormorant.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun One of the officers (usually two) in an Episcopal church, whose duties vary in different dioceses, but always include the provision of what is necessary for the communion service.
- noun Slang, Eng. A clay tobacco pipe, with a long tube.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun UK A
lay officer of theChurch of England who handles thesecular affairs of theparish . - noun US A similar functionary of the
Episcopal church. - noun UK, slang A
churchwarden pipe .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun an officer in the Episcopal church who helps a parish priest with secular matters
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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The Vicar, finding his comfort in the practice of a Christian virtue, exercised forbearance; but he revenged himself by calling the churchwarden Bismarck behind his back.
Of Human Bondage 1919
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The Vicar, finding his comfort in the practice of a Christian virtue, exercised forbearance; but he revenged himself by calling the churchwarden Bismarck behind his back.
Of Human Bondage 1915
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He laid great stress and emphasis on having 'his short pipe' with him, probably reserving a regular long-shanked 'churchwarden' for home use.
Heroes of the Goodwin Sands Thomas Stanley Treanor
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The squire took down from the mantel his long-stemmed "churchwarden" pipe.
Neville Trueman, the Pioneer Preacher : a tale of the war of 1812
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He understood nothing of what the fat man had said, but he caught the word "churchwarden," and remembered it.
The Old Tobacco Shop A True Account of What Befell a Little Boy in Search of Adventure William Bowen 1907
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It reveals unsuspected beauties in the simple "churchwarden," or "yard of clay":
The Social History of Smoking George Latimer Apperson 1897
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Nowhere else surely has a Gothic architect approached so closely to the ideals of his "churchwarden" imitators of the beginning of this century.
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After the usual salutations, he took his seat beside us, lifted a pipe of the kind called "churchwarden" from the box on the ground, filled and lighted it, and for a little while we were silent all three.
Dreamthorp A Book of Essays Written in the Country Alexander Smith 1848
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SUIT in the Spiritual Court for taking away two bells Prohibition to out of the fteeplc, and a prohibition was granted; s Yritua "Couu* for the churchwarden is a corporation, and the property for taking bell*. tfi in him, and he may bring trover at common law.
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"churchwarden" or "yard of clay" which was not in vogue till the early years of the nineteenth century.
The Social History of Smoking George Latimer Apperson 1897
Gammerstang commented on the word churchwarden
Dog-flogging Day (October 18th)
On this date in York, England, any dogs found in the streets were once subject to being whipped in commemoration of the 18th-century swallowing of consecrated wafers by a dog in the cathedral. Beginning in the 16th century, many English churches employed churchwardens, or beadles, who not only supervised the sometimes unruly canines that traditionally accompanied their owners to church but were often charged with keeping parishioners awaking during services.
Edward Peacock's Glossary of Lincolnshire (1877) added, "In Northorpe Church until about seventy years ago, there was a small pew on the south side just within the charnel arch known as Hall Dog-pew, in which the dogs that had followed the author's grandfather and family to church were imprisoned during divine service."
January 19, 2018