chess 1
(chĕs)n. A board game for two players, each beginning with 16 pieces of six kinds that are moved according to individual rules, with the objective of checkmating the opposing king.
[Middle English ches, short for Old French esches, pl. of eschec, check in chess; see check.]
chess 2
(chĕs)n. Any of several species of brome, especially Bromus secalinus.
[Origin unknown.]
chess 3
(chĕs)n. pl. chess or
chess·es One of the floorboards of a pontoon bridge.
[Middle English ches, tier, perhaps from Old French chasse, frame, from Latin capsa, box.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.