Adjacent Words

Chair definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CHAIR, n.
1. A movable seat; a frame with a bottom made of different materials, used for persons to sit in; originally a stool, and anciently a kind of pulpit in churches.
2. A seat of justice or of authority; as a chair of state.
3. A seat for a professor, or his office; as the professors chair.
4. The seat for a speaker or presiding officer of a public council, or assembly, as the speakers chair; and by a metonymy, the speaker himself; as, to address the chair.
5. A sedan; a vehicle on poles borne by men.
6. A pulpit.
7. A two-wheeled carriage, drawn by one horse; a gig.
8. Supreme office or magistracy.
When Governor Shute came to the chair, several of the old councilors were laid aside.
Curule chair, an ivory seat placed on a car, used by the prime magistrates of Rome.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a seat for one person, with a support for the back; "he put his coat over the back of the chair and sat down"
2: the position of professor; "he was awarded an endowed chair in economics" [syn: professorship, chair]
3: the officer who presides at the meetings of an organization; "address your remarks to the chairperson" [syn: president, chairman, chairwoman, chair, chairperson]
4: an instrument of execution by electrocution; resembles an ordinary seat for one person; "the murderer was sentenced to die in the chair" [syn: electric chair, chair, death chair, hot seat]
5: a particular seat in an orchestra; "he is second chair violin" v
1: act or preside as chair, as of an academic department in a university; "She chaired the department for many years" [syn: chair, chairman]
2: preside over; "John moderated the discussion" [syn: moderate, chair, lead]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English chaiere, from Anglo-French, from Latin cathedra, from Greek kathedra, from kata- cata- + hedra seat — more at sit Date: 13th century 1. a. a seat typically having four legs and a back for one person b. electric chair — used with the 2. a. an official seat or a seat of authority, state, or dignity b. an office or position of authority or dignity c. professorship <holds a university chair> d. chairman 1 3. a sedan chair 4. a position of employment usually of one occupying a chair or desk; specifically the position of a player in an orchestra or band 5. any of various devices that hold up or support II. transitive verb Date: 1552 1. to install in office 2. chiefly British to carry on the shoulders in acclaim <we chaired you through the market place — A. E. Housman> 3. to preside as chairman of

Britannica Concise

Seat, usually with four legs and a back, intended for one person. It is one of the most ancient forms of furniture, dating to the 3rd Egyptian dynasty (c.2650-2575 BC). Various styles were developed throughout Europe. In the 16th cent., many chairs began to be covered with upholstery over padding and decorated with elaborate wood carving. U.S. chairs adapted versions of English styles from the late 17th cent.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a separate seat for one person, of various forms, usu. having a back and four legs. 2 a a professorship (offered the chair in physics). b a seat of authority, esp. on a board of directors. c a mayoralty. 3 a a chairperson. b the seat or office of a chairperson (will you take the chair?; I'm in the chair). 4 US = electric chair. 5 an iron or steel socket holding a railway rail in place. 6 hist. = sedan chair. --v.tr. 1 act as chairperson of or preside over (a meeting). 2 Brit. carry (a person) aloft in a chair or in a sitting position, in triumph. 3 install in a chair, esp. as a position of authority. Phrases and idioms: chair-bed a chair that unfolds into a bed. chair-borne colloq. (of an administrator) not active. chair-car a railway carriage with chairs instead of long seats; a parlour car. chair-lift a series of chairs on an endless cable for carrying passengers up and down a mountain etc. take a chair sit down. Etymology: ME f. AF chaere, OF chaiere f. L cathedra f. Gk kathedra: see CATHEDRAL

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Chair Chair, v. t. [imp. & p. pr. Chaired; p. pr. & vb. n. Chairing.] 1. To place in a chair. 2. To carry publicly in a chair in triumph. [Eng.]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Chair Chair, n. [OE. chaiere, chaere, OF. chaiere, chaere, F. chaire pulpit, fr. L. cathedra chair, armchair, a teacher's or professor's chair, Gr. ? down + ? seat, ? to sit, akin to E. sit. See Sit, and cf. Cathedral, chaise.] 1. A movable single seat with a back. 2. An official seat, as of a chief magistrate or a judge, but esp. that of a professor; hence, the office itself. The chair of a philosophical school. --Whewell. A chair of philology. --M. Arnold. 3. The presiding officer of an assembly; a chairman; as, to address the chair. 4. A vehicle for one person; either a sedan borne upon poles, or two-wheeled carriage, drawn by one horse; a gig. --Shak. Think what an equipage thou hast in air, And view with scorn two pages and a chair. --Pope. 5. An iron block used on railways to support the rails and secure them to the sleepers. Chair days, days of repose and age. To put into the chair, to elect as president, or as chairman of a meeting. --Macaulay. To take the chair, to assume the position of president, or of chairman of a meeting.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(chairs, chairing, chaired) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. A chair is a piece of furniture for one person to sit on. Chairs have a back and four legs. He rose from his chair and walked to the window. N-COUNT 2. At a university, a chair is the post of professor. He has been appointed to the chair of sociology at Southampton University... N-COUNT: usu sing, oft N of/in n 3. The person who is the chair of a committee or meeting is the person in charge of it. She is the chair of the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Military. = chairperson N-COUNT: usu sing, oft N of n 4. If you chair a meeting or a committee, you are the person in charge of it. He was about to chair a meeting in Venice of EU foreign ministers... VERB: V n 5. The chair is the same as the electric chair. (AM) N-SING: the N

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

char.

See SEAT; SEATS, CHIEF.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Seat. 2. Seat of justice, seat of authority. 3. Chairman, presiding officer. 4. Professorship.

Foolish Dictionary

Four-legged aid to the injured.

Moby Thesaurus

Eames chair, Hitchcock chair, TV chair, administer, administrate, anoint, armchair, armless chair, authority, ax, back seat, banquette, bar stool, barber chair, barrel chair, basket chair, batwing chair, be master, bed chair, beheading, bench, bicycle seat, block, boudoir chair, bow-back chair, bucket seat, burning, camp chair, campaign chair, capital punishment, captain, chair of English, chairman, club chair, club lounge chair, comb-back chair, command, contour chair, convener, cricket, cricket chair, cross, crown, crucifixion, curule chair, dais, death chair, death chamber, decapitation, decollation, defenestration, dining chair, direct, directorship, discipline, draft chair, drop, easy chair, elbowchair, electric chair, electrocution, enthrone, execution, fan-back chair, fauteuil, fellowship, fender stool, folding chair, foldstool, form, fusillade, gallows, gallows-tree, garden chair, garrote, gas chamber, gassing, gibbet, govern, guillotine, halter, hanging, hassock, head, helm, hemlock, hemp, hempen collar, high chair, horse, hot seat, inaugurate, induct, install, instate, invest, judicial murder, ladder-back chair, lapidation, lead, leader, lethal chamber, maiden, manage, milking stool, moderate, moderator, necktie party, noose, occupy the chair, officer, officiate, ottoman, oversee, overstuffed chair, pew, place, place in office, platform rocker, poisoning, position, preceptorship, preside, preside over, presiding officer, professorate, professorhood, professoriate, professorship, put in, readership, regulate, rocker, rocking chair, rope, run, saddle, scaffold, schoolmastery, seat, seat of power, seat of state, sedan chair, settle, shooting, speaker, stake, stand over, step stool, stoning, stool, strangling, strangulation, supervise, swing, taboret, teachership, the ax, the block, the chair, the gallows, the gas chamber, the guillotine, the hot seat, the rope, throne, tree, tutelage, tutorage, tutorship, wield authority, woolsack