Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Alewife \Ale"wife`\, n.; pl. {Alewives}. [This word is properly
   aloof, the Indian name of a fish. See Winthrop on the culture
   of maize in America, ``Phil Trans.'' No. 142, p. 1065, and
   Baddam's ``Memoirs,'' vol. ii. p. 131.] (Zo["o]l.)
   A North American fish ({Clupea vernalis}) of the Herring
   family. It is called also {ellwife}, {ellwhop}, {branch
   herring}. The name is locally applied to other related
   species.

Alewife \Ale"wife`\, n.; pl. {Alewives}.
   A woman who keeps an alehouse. --Gay.

Source : WordNet®

alewife
     n 1: flesh of shad-like fish abundant along the Atlantic coast or
          in coastal streams
     2: shad-like food fish that runs rivers to spawn; often salted
        or smoked; sometimes placed in genus Pomolobus [syn: {Alosa
        pseudoharengus}, {Pomolobus pseudoharengus}]
     [also: {alewives} (pl)]