cheville

[ shuh-vee ]

noun

, Prosody.

1. a word or expression whose only function is to fill a metrical gap in a verse or to balance a sentence.

Word History and Origins

Origin of cheville¹

First recorded in 1880–85; from French: literally, “ankle, dowel, peg, plug,” the last sense giving rise to the English meaning of a filler word or phrase in a sentence or line of verse, from Latin clāvicula “key, tendril, pivot”; clavicle

Example Sentences

Morehead’s trailer home, which was paid off years ago, now has a back patio with a built-in grill and a garage where he keeps his turquoise 1967 Chevy Cheville.

From Seattle Times

Zynga had five of the top 10 games on , based on DAUs, including Words With Fiends, Zynga Pke, Bubble Safi, CheVille and mVille 2 as of Dec. 31, according to AppData.

From Forbes

I have been fortunate to hear an excellent lecture from Andrea Cheville of the Mayo Clinic at the September 2010 national lymphedema conference, as she presented a comprehensive review of the pain associated with lymphedema and how to treat it.

From Washington Post

She has terrific lambruscos from Lini and good California gamays from Edmunds St. John, and for the adventurous, Cheville de Fer from Les Vins Conté, a fine, funky côt, or malbec, from the Loire Valley.

From New York Times

The genius of prose rejects the cheville no less emphatically than the laws of verse; and the cheville, I should perhaps explain to some of my readers, is any meaningless or very watered phrase employed to strike a balance in the sound.

From Project Gutenberg