Also cavash, cavass, kawass, (kaouas, kervas). [Turk. (Arab.) qawwās bow-maker, f. qaws bow.] An armed constable or police officer, an armed servant or courier (in Turkey).
1819. T. Hope, Anastasius (1828), II. 30. I … had, by way of retinue … half a dozen kawasses to clear my way of canaille.
1852. Badger, Nestorians, I. 335. The authorities … had sent a mounted kawass … to demand the restoration of the plunder.
1880. Kinglake, Crimea, VI. x. 395. Engaging the services of a ‘cavash.’
1885. Times, 16 Dec., 5. The murderer … had been Hansal’s cavass.
1897. Mrs. Ramsay, Every Day Life Turkey, ii. 65. He had been kavass at the French consulate.
