Sentence:  , which, I was told, the sea had tossed over the beach in a great storm in the spring, and, after the <WSD>alewives</WSD> had passed into it, it had stopped up its outlet, and now the <WSD>alewives</WSD> were dying by thousands, and the inhabitants were apprehending a pestilence as the water evaporated. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A migrating North American fish, (ver=161014).