Ale·wife n.; pl. Alewives A woman who keeps an alehouse.
Ale·wife, n.; pl. Alewives. Zool. 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.
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alewife
n 1: flesh of shad-like fish abundant along the Atlantic coast or
in coastal streams
2: shad-like food fish that runs rivers to spawn; often salted
or smoked; sometimes placed in genus Pomolobus [syn: Alosa
pseudoharengus, Pomolobus pseudoharengus]
[also: alewives (pl)]