shivaree

[ shiv-uh-ree ]
See synonyms for shivaree on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a mock serenade with kettles, pans, horns, and other noisemakers given for a newly married couple.

  2. Informal. an elaborate, noisy celebration.

verb (used with object),shiv·a·reed, shiv·a·ree·ing.
  1. to serenade with a shivaree.

Origin of shivaree

1
First recorded in 1800–10, Americanism; alteration of Mississippi Valley French, French charivari charivari

Words Nearby shivaree

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use shivaree in a sentence

  • Jest the same it 'ud sure surprise me if we didn't git some sort of a shivaree pahty afteh nightfall.

    Rimrock Trail | J. Allan Dunn
  • Often the young men, stimulated with more or less “moonshine,” add the literally stunning compliment of a shivaree.

    Our Southern Highlanders | Horace Kephart
  • I wanted to keep Man sober, and I tried to get him and his wife out of town before that shivaree of yours was pulled off.

    Lonesome Land | B. M. Bower
  • I wonder what poor old Elder Edkins would say now if he caught sight of me in this shivaree.

    Lone Pine | R. B. (Richard Baxter) Townshend
  • Scales had fixed up for a crowd of hoodlums to shivaree them as they went.

    Yellowstone Nights | Herbert Quick

British Dictionary definitions for shivaree

shivaree

/ (ˌʃɪvəˈriː) /


nounUS and Canadian
  1. a discordant mock serenade to newlyweds, made with pans, kettles, etc

  2. a confused noise; din

  • Also (esp dialect): charivari

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012