*hess*

n. [ OE. ches, F. échecs, prop. pl. of échec check. See 1st Check. ] A game played on a chessboard, by two persons, with two differently colored sets of men, sixteen in each set. Each player has a king, a queen, two bishops, two knights, two castles or rooks, and eight pawns. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) A species of brome grass (Bromus secalinus) which is a troublesome weed in wheat fields, and is often erroneously regarded as degenerate or changed wheat; it bears a very slight resemblance to oats, and if reaped and ground up with wheat, so as to be used for food, is said to produce narcotic effects; -- called also cheat and Willard's bromus. [ U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Other species of brome grass are called upright chess, soft chess, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The wild service of Europe (Purus torminalis). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The board used in the game of chess, having eight rows of alternate light and dark squares, eight in each row. See Checkerboard. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The chessboard and the checkerboard are alike. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The wooden mold in which cheese is pressed. Simmonds. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. pl. [ Cf. F. chassis a framework of carpenty. ] (Mil.) The platforms, consisting of two or more planks doweled together, for the flooring of a temporary military bridge. Wilhelm. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞A singular, chess, is sometimes used. “Each chess consists of three planks.” Farrow. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. chesil, AS. ceosel gravel, sand. ] Gravel or pebbles. Halliwell. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Chessmen /plu>. A piece used in the game of chess. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. Chisley. ] Mellow earth; mold. [ Obs. ] Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. chassis a framework of carpentry. ] (Naut.) A piece of oak bolted perpendicularly on the side of a vessel, to aid in drawing down and securing the clew of the mainsail. [ 1913 Webster ]

(Min.) The mineral azurite, found in fine crystallization at Chessy, near Lyons; called also chessylite. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. duchesse, fr. duc duke. ] The wife or widow of a duke; also, a lady who has the sovereignty of a duchy in her own right. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖ [ F. ] (Bot.) A variety of pear of large size and excellent flavor. [ 1913 Webster ]

A beautiful variety of Brussels pillow lace made originally in Belgium and resembling Honiton guipure. It is worked with fine thread in large sprays, usually of the primrose pattern, with much raised work. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

v. t. & i. See Guess. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of or relating to Hesse, in Germany, or to the Hessians. [ 1913 Webster ]

Hessian boots, or
Hessians, boot of a kind worn in England, in the early part of the nineteenth century, tasseled in front. Thackeray. --
Hessian cloth, or
Hessians, a coarse hempen cloth for sacking. --
Hessian crucible. See under Crucible. --
Hessian fly (Zool.), a small dipterous fly or midge (Cecidomyia destructor). Its larvae live between the base of the lower leaves and the stalk of wheat, and are very destructive to young wheat; -- so called from the erroneous idea that it was brought into America by the Hessian troops, during the Revolution. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A native or inhabitant of Hesse. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A mercenary or venal person. [ U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ This use is a relic of the patriot hatred of the Hessian mercenaries who served with the British troops in the Revolutionary War. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. pl. See Hessian boots and cloth, under Hessian, a. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ After H. Hess. ] (Min.) A lead-gray sectile mineral. It is a telluride of silver. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A female monarch. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. See Riches. ] Wealth; riches. See the Note under Riches. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Some man desireth for to have richesse. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

The richesse of all heavenly grace. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. L. Thessalius. ] Of or pertaining to Thessaly in Greece. Shak. -- n. A native or inhabitant of Thessaly. [ 1913 Webster ]