Feese

Part of speech: verb, noun

Definitions

1. Dialect verb meaning to drive away or chase off animals or people so that they scatter
2. Used in Scottish and northern English speech for forcing something or someone to flee or run off
3. To send livestock or other creatures running away by shouting, pushing or threatening them

Etymology: "Feese" is a Scottish and northern English word meaning to drive off or to hurry someone along, and its origins are tied to a notion of sudden force. The likeliest ancestor is Middle English "fese", meaning a blast, a rush or a burst, which came from the verb "fesen", meaning to put to flight. The same root gives us "faze", a close relative whose sense of being disturbed or disconcerted grew from the older idea of being scattered or driven off. The connection is clear in the way the older verb worked: to "feese" a flock of birds or a set of animals was to startle them into a rush and send them scattering. The sense of hurrying or chasing has stayed with the word, while the earlier meaning of a sudden burst of movement is still visible in it.