What is "alewives"

Alewife \Ale"wife`\, n.; pl. Alewives. A woman who keeps an alehouse.
--Gay.

Alewife \Ale"wife`\, n.; pl. Alewives. [This word is properly aloof, the Indian name of a fish. See Winthrop on the culture of maize in America, ``Phil Trans.'' No. 142, p. 1065, and Baddam's ``Memoirs,'' vol. ii. p. 131.] (Zo["o]l.) 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.

n. (plural of alewife English)

1. n. 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]

3. [also: alewives (pl)]

See alewife