Definition of "churchwarden" [church•ward•en]

• A lay officer in the Anglican Church chosen annually by the vicar or the congregation to handle the secular and legal affairs of the parish. (noun)
• One of two elected chief lay officers of the vestry in the Episcopal Church. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "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."
• "The squire took down from the mantel his long-stemmed "churchwarden" pipe."
• "He laid great stress and emphasis on having 'his short pipe' with him, probably reserving a regular long-shanked 'churchwarden' for home use."