shrievalty, shrevalty

A contract. of sheriffalty. The office or jurisdiction of a sheriff; the period during which a sheriff holds office. "The shrevalty in ancient times was honos sine onere." -Fuller: Worthies of England, *shriēve, s . [SHERIFF.) A sheriff. "Scarce a shrieve's wife at an a ize Was dre ed so fine, so roll'd her eyes." Somervile: The Yeoman of Kent. *shrieve, v . t . [SHRIVE.] shrift, s . [A. S. scrift =confe ion, from scrifan =to shrive (q. v.); Icel. skript , skrift ; Sw.shrift ; Dan. shrifte . 1. Confe ion to a priest. "'Twas told me in shrift ; Thou know'st 'tis death an if it be revealed." Marlowe: Jew of Malta , iii. 5. 2. The priestly act of shriving; absolution. "I will give him a present shrift." Shakesp.: Measure for Measure, iv. 2. shrift-father, *shrifte-fader, subst . A father confe or. "I shrewe these shrift - faders everich on." Chaucer: C. Т., 7,024. *shright ( gh silent), pret. of v. [SHRIEK, v.] A shriek. (Spenser: F. Q., VI. iv. 2.) shrike, s. [From the cry of the bird.] Ornith.: A popular name for any individual of the Laniide (q. v.), applied specially for the last three centuries to Lanius excubitor, the Great Gray Shrike. The length of the adult male is about ten inches; pearl gray on upper part of body; chin, breast, and abdomen white; tail feathers black, variegated, and tipped with white; a black band cro es the forehead, runs under the eyes, and expands into a patch on theear-coverts The Le er Gray Shrike ( L. minor ), from eight to nine inches, which bears a general resemblance in plumage to its larger congener, is an occasional winter visitor. The Red-backed Shrike( L . colluris ) like L septentri onalis, is often called the Nine-killer (q. v.), and with one or two other small Shrikes, is sometimes placed in a genus Enneoctonus. Shrikes feed on insects and small birds, and have a remarkable habit of impaling their prey on thorns in the neigh borhood of their nests, which may thus be easily discovered. They kill and impale many insects that they do not eat, and even in confinement they push portions of the food given them between the wires of their cages, or transfix it on a sharp nail, if one be provided for the purpose. [BUTCHER-BIRD.] "The mayfly is torn by the swallow, the sparrow speared by the shrike."-Tennyson: Maud , I. iv. 4.