n.
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural ale · wives \ - ˌ w ī vz \
Etymology: perhaps alteration of obsolete allowes, a kind of shad, from French alose shad, from Old French, from Late Latin alausa
Date: 1633
: a food fish ( Alosa pseudoharengus ) of the herring family that is very abundant along the Atlantic coast also : any of several related fishes (as the menhaden)