Definition of "reeve" [reeve]

• The elected president of a town council in some parts of Canada. (noun)
• Any of various minor officers of parishes or other local authorities. (noun)
• A bailiff or steward of a manor in the later medieval period. (noun)
• A high officer of local administration appointed by the Anglo-Saxon kings. (noun)
• Nautical To pass (a rope or rod) through a hole, ring, pulley, or block. (verb-transitive)

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.

• "All he got was 'reeve' of some little shi-poke burg down south."
• "The principal officers were the "reeve" or head-man, the "beadle" or messenger, and the "tithing-man" or petty constable."
• "But I didn't know it was serious enough to call a reeve out of Toskala. ""