‖ cheville
(ʃəˈviːl)
[a. Fr. cheville, in many technical senses, e.g. pin, plug (in carpentry), etc., and thence in the sense of word inserted to plug up a vacant place in a sentence.]
1. A meaningless or redundant word or phrase inserted to round off a sentence or complete a verse.
| 1883 Simcox Latin Lit. II. v. v. 77 One finds the chevilles at the end of the line in the ‘æneid’. 1885 Contemp. Rev. Apr. 551 Cheville..is any meaningless or very watered phrase employed to strike a balance in the sound. |
2. ‘The peg of a violin or similar stringed instrument’ (Stainer and Barrett, 1878).