The winner

[Fran Poodry]

Is Linda, with 8 points!

The full tally follows:

guiver -n.-  The chain harness in which a whale is secured beside a ship, so
that blubber may be stripped off the carcass in a continuous roll.
-Eric, 3 points
2 points from David
1 point from Judith.
Temptingly non-obvious, interesting, and well-phrased, but the spelling
looks too Romance to be nautical. -Elliott
I'm pretty sure that they didn't strip blubber in a continuous roll, so
nothing here - Hutch
I thought they brought it onto the flensing platform of the ship. -Pierre
Clever. Although I'm wondering about the mechanics of rotating a dead whale
-- seems like that might be a very difficult task. -Jean-Joseph
 
 
guiver -n.-  A waxed, curled moustache, with points protruding away from the
wearer's face and up into his field of vision, used to find the range in a
duel.
-Elliott, 0 points
Known to the disrespectful as "lip antlers". -Elliott
What a hilarious concept! But no points -Hutch
LOL! - Pierre
"What? How dare you slap me in the face with a glove!  I shall meet you in
the morning, sir!  But first, I must make an appointment for this evening
with my stylist to get my moustache calibrated!" I actually have no idea how
shooting duels worked.  Seems like it shouldn't be very hard to nail
somebody at that range (although perhaps the weapons were flaky), and I
don't understand the protocol governing when you can shoot -- ten quick,
small steps would permit you to turn first and get well aimed before your
opponent turns (I'm assuming you can't shoot him in the back).  I suppose
it's just one step away from Russian Roulette.  Wikipedia suggests that the
rules varied, but in many of cases, both parties intentionally missed, and
honor was restored.  In any case, I think some kind of gunsight would be a
better idea than a weird moustache. - Jean-Joseph
 
 
guiver -n.-  The stable-hand in charge of the King's steeds.
-Jim, 1 point
1 point from Pierre
Generic medieval definition. - Jean-Joseph
 
 
guiver -v.-  [falconry] To spiral inwards; compare guiser and gyre.
-Hutch, 1 point
This word made me think of falconry too.  is there some birdy wordy that
sounds like "guiver" that I know subconsciously? so: 1 pt! - Ranjit
I *think* "gyre" was coing by Lewis Carroll (in "Jabberwocky"), and isn't a
real word. - Jean-Joseph
 
 
guiver -n.-  A ruse.  -v.-  To attempt to fool someone.
-Judith, 0 points
guise, guile...- Jean-Joseph
 
 
guiver -n.-  (also gyver) [Austral. & NZ sl.]  1.  Plausible talk.  2.
Affectation of speech or manner.
-The Oxford English Reference Dictionary, second edition (c) 1996, 4 points
Sounds right, but the spelling is just too Romance. - Elliott
That seems plausible :)  2 pts. -Ranjit
Two points, why not. (I'm not even sure what this means.) - Jean-Joseph
The dictionary also says [19th c. orig. unkn.] which I omitted.  I was
pleased to find a word without a known origin because I figured it would be
hard to guess. -Fran
 
guiver -n.-  In feudal England, a document exempting a man from some kind of
service to his lord.
-Pierre, 5 points
2 points from Nick
1 point from Judith
If I had any more points, they'd go here. - Hutch
Generic medieval definition. - Jean-Joseph
Ahhhh, now this one looks good, despite the non-dictionary wording.  I can
see "guiver"/"waiver" being a pair like "guarantee"/"warranty", or
"guard"/"ward".  Romance words turn up in law all the time.  Two points!
-Elliott
 
 
guiver, -n.-  One who engraves armor.
-Linda, 8 points
1 point from Nick
1 point from David
2 points from Pierre
After much consideration, I think I like this one best: 2 points -Hutch
My favorite from among the "this looks like an old word" defs, so I'll give
it one point. - Jean-Joseph
When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however
implausible, must get my one-point vote. -Elliott
 
 
guiver -n.-  A two-handled spade.
-Ranjit, 3 points
(2 points for correct guess)
... and this one second best: 1 point - Hutch
Heh.  I like this.  Wondering whether the handles are parallel, so that two
people standing very close together use it in synchrony, or if it's like a
two-man saw, with handles on opposite sides, so they can have a tug-o-war
over e shovelful of dirt.  Or maybe it's two interchangeable handles, like,
a casual one, and another for formal evening wear. - Jean-Joseph
I also had fun imagining this.  I was thinking along the lines of the
opposite-end handlesŠthe spade would be unusable and I thought that would be
very funnyŠHand it to your daughter¹s suitor and say, ³before you can marry
my daughter you must use this spade to dig an Olympic-size swimming pool for
her!²  hee hee hee. -Fran
 
 
guiver -v.-  To use implied suicide threats as a method of persuasion.
-Jean Joseph, 2 points
(2 points for correct guess)
I *refuse* to believe that this actually has a word for it! -Hutch
Huh? How would that work? -Pierre
I was being subjected to this when I wrote the definition. - Jean-Joseph
UghŠone of my ³friends² did this to one of her boyfriends when we were in
high school, so he wouldn¹t break up with her.  Then she met someone else
and didn¹t mind that the first boyfriend really wanted to break up with her.
Ick! -Fran
 
 
guiver -n.-  A tapestry edged with enamel medallions.  Originally referring
to products of the Guivres weaveries, in the Limoges district of France.
-David, 1 point
1 point from Judith
Very tempted by this def, but no dice. -Hutch
Not bad, but I'm out of points. - Jean-Joseph
 
 
 
 
>From Jean-Joseph:
Well, some unsophisticated Googling turned up very little on this, in part
because the results were dominated by hits where "Guiver" is a surname.
Although there is some weird math usage at
http://www.springerlink.com/content/np6214xn01w467wj/
and an ever weirder slang usage (not for the squeamish) at
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Doing+a+Guiver