Adjacent Words

Chamber definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CHAMBER,
CHAMBER,
1. An apartment in an upper story, or in a story above the lower floor of a dwelling house; often used as a lodging room.
2. Any retired room; any private apartment which a person occupies; as, he called on the judge at his chamber.
Joseph entered into his chamber and wept. Genesis 43.
3. Any retired place.
Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death. Proverbs 7.
4. A hollow or cavity; as the chamber of the eye.
5. A place where an assembly meets, and the assembly itself; as star-chamber; imperial chamber; chamber of accounts; ecclesiastical chamber; privy chamber; chamber of commerce, etc.
6. In military affairs, the chamber of a mortar is that part of the chase, where the powder lies.
7. A powder-chamber, or bomb-chamber, a place under ground for holding powder and bombs, where they may be safe and secured from rains.
8. The chamber of a mine, a place, generally of a cubical form, where the powder is confined.
9. A species of ordnance.
10. The clouds. Psalms 104.
11. Certain southern constellations which are hid from us.
The chambers of the south. Job 9.
Chamber-council, a private or secret council
Chamber-counsel, a counselor, who gives his opinion in a private apartment, but does not advocate causes in court.
CHAMBER,
CHAMBER, v.i.
1. To reside in or occupy as a chamber.
2. To be wanton; to indulge in lewd or immodest behavior. Romans 13.
CHAMBER,
CHAMBER, v.t. To shut up as in a chamber.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a natural or artificial enclosed space
2: an enclosed volume in the body; "the chambers of his heart were healthy"
3: a room where a judge transacts business
4: a deliberative or legislative or administrative or judicial assembly; "the upper chamber is the senate"
5: a room used primarily for sleeping [syn: bedroom, sleeping room, sleeping accommodation, chamber, bedchamber] v
1: place in a chamber

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English chambre, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin camera, from Latin, arched roof, from Greek kamara vault Date: 13th century 1. room; especially bedroom 2. a natural or artificial enclosed space or cavity 3. a. a hall for the meetings of a deliberative, legislative, or judicial body <the senate chamber> b. a room where a judge transacts business — usually used in plural c. the reception room of a person of rank or authority 4. a. a legislative or judicial body; especially either of the houses of a bicameral legislature b. a voluntary board or council 5. a. the part of the bore of a gun that holds the charge b. a compartment in the cartridge cylinder of a revolver • chambered adjective II. transitive verb (chambered; chambering) Date: 1575 1. to place in or as if in a chamber ; house 2. to serve as a chamber for; especially to accommodate in the chamber of a firearm III. adjective Date: 1706 being, relating to, or performing chamber music

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a a hall used by a legislative or judicial body. b the body that meets in it. c any of the houses of a parliament (Chamber of Deputies; second chamber). 2 (in pl.) Brit. Law a rooms used by a barrister or group of barristers, esp. in the Inns of Court. b a judge's room used for hearing cases not needing to be taken in court. 3 poet. or archaic a room, esp. a bedroom. 4 Mus. (attrib.) of or for a small group of instruments (chamber orchestra; chamber music). 5 an enclosed space in machinery etc. (esp. the part of a gun-bore that contains the charge). 6 a a cavity in a plant or in the body of an animal. b a compartment in a structure. 7 = chamber-pot. Phrases and idioms: Chamber of Commerce an association to promote local commercial interests. chamber-pot a receptacle for urine etc., used in a bedroom. Etymology: ME f. OF chambre f. L CAMERA

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Chamber Cham"ber, n. [F. chambre, fr. L. camera vault, arched roof, in LL. chamber, fr. Gr. ? anything with a vaulted roof or arched covering; cf. Skr. kmar to be crooked. Cf. Camber, Camera, Comrade.] 1. A retired room, esp. an upper room used for sleeping; a bedroom; as, the house had four chambers.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

2. pl. Apartments in a lodging house. ``A bachelor's life in chambers.'' --Thackeray. 3. A hall, as where a king gives audience, or a deliberative body or assembly meets; as, presence chamber; senate chamber. 4. A legislative or judicial body; an assembly; a society or association; as, the Chamber of Deputies; the Chamber of Commerce. 5. A compartment or cell; an inclosed space or cavity; as, the chamber of a canal lock; the chamber of a furnace; the chamber of the eye. 6. pl. (Law.) A room or rooms where a lawyer transacts business; a room or rooms where a judge transacts such official business as may be done out of court. 7. A chamber pot. [Colloq.] 8. (Mil.) (a) That part of the bore of a piece of ordnance which holds the charge, esp. when of different diameter from the rest of the bore; -- formerly, in guns, made smaller than the bore, but now larger, esp. in breech-loading guns. (b) A cavity in a mine, usually of a cubical form, to contain the powder. (c) A short piece of ordnance or cannon, which stood on its breech, without any carriage, formerly used chiefly for rejoicings and theatrical cannonades. Air chamber. See Air chamber, in the Vocabulary. Chamber of commerce, a board or association to protect the interests of commerce, chosen from among the merchants and traders of a city. Chamber council, a secret council. --Shak. Chamber counsel or counselor, a counselor who gives his opinion in private, or at his chambers, but does not advocate causes in court. Chamber fellow, a chamber companion; a roommate; a chum. Chamber hangings, tapestry or hangings for a chamber. Chamber lye, urine. --Shak. Chamber music, vocal or instrumental music adapted to performance in a chamber or small apartment or audience room, instead of a theater, concert hall, or church. Chamber practice (Law.), the practice of counselors at law, who give their opinions in private, but do not appear in court. To sit at chambers, to do business in chambers, as a judge.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Chamber Cham"ber, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Chambered; p. pr. & vb. n. Chambering.] 1. To reside in or occupy a chamber or chambers. 2. To be lascivious. [Obs.]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Chamber Cham"ber, v. t. 1. To shut up, as in a chamber. --Shak. 2. To furnish with a chamber; as, to chamber a gun.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(chambers) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. A chamber is a large room, especially one that is used for formal meetings. We are going to make sure we are in the council chamber every time he speaks. N-COUNT: usu supp N 2. You can refer to a country's parliament or to one section of it as a chamber. More than 80 parties are contesting seats in the two-chamber parliament... Signor Amato's government has only a 16-seat majority in the Chamber of Deputies. = house N-COUNT 3. A chamber is a room designed and equipped for a particular purpose. For many, the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber. N-COUNT: with supp see also gas chamber

Easton's Bible Dictionary

"on the wall," which the Shunammite prepared for the prophet Elisha (2 Kings 4:10), was an upper chamber over the porch through the hall toward the street. This was the "guest chamber" where entertainments were prepared (Mark 14:14). There were also "chambers within chambers" (1 Kings 22:25; 2 Kings 9:2). To enter into a chamber is used metaphorically of prayer and communion with God (Isa. 26:20). The "chambers of the south" (Job 9:9) are probably the constelations of the southern hemisphere. The "chambers of imagery", i.e., chambers painted with images, as used by Ezekiel (8:12), is an expression denoting the vision the prophet had of the abominations practised by the Jews in Jerusalem.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

cham'-ber (the translation of the following Hebrew words: chedher, chuppah, yatsia`, yatsua`, lishkah, nishkah, `aliyah, tsela`, and the Aramaic word `illith): For the most part the word chamber is the expression of an idea which would be adequately expressed by the English word "room," in accordance with an earlier use of the word, now little employed. For the arrangement of rooms in a Hebrew house, see HOUSE. Chedher is a word of frequent occurrence, and designates a private room. Chuppah is translated "chamber" only in Ps 19:5, where it is used in connection with "bridegroom," and means a bridal chamber. The same Hebrew word used of the bride in Joe 2:16 is rendered "closet." Yatsia` and yatsua` are found only in 1Ki 6:5,6,10 (the King James Version only in all the passages), yatsua` being the reading of Kethibh and yatsia` of Kere in each ease. Here the meaning is really "story," as given in the Revised Version (British and American), except in 1Ki 6:6, where doubtless the text should be changed to read ha-tsela`, "the side-chamber." Lishkah, a frequent word, and the equivalent nishkah, infrequent, are used ordinarily of a room in the temple utilized for sacred purposes, occasionally of a room in the palace. `Aliyah and the equivalent Aramaic `illith signify "a roof chamber," i.e. a chamber built on the flat roof of a house. Tsela`, when used of a chamber, designates a side-chamber of the temple. It is usually rendered "side-chamber," but "chamber" in 1Ki 6:5,8 (the King James Version), where the Revised Version (British and American) has "side-chamber."

George Ricker Berry

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Apartment, room, hall. 2. Cavity, hollow, hollow place. 3. Legislative body.

Moby Thesaurus

British Cabinet, Geiger counter, Sanhedrin, US Cabinet, Wilson chamber, advisory body, alpha pulse analyzer, apartment, assembly, association, atom counter, ballroom, bedchamber, bedpan, bedroom, bench, board, body, body of advisers, booth, boron counter, borough council, boudoir, box, brain trust, cabinet, camarilla, can, cavity, cell, cellule, chamber pot, chambre, chemical closet, chemical toilet, city council, cloud chamber, commode, common council, compartment, conference, congress, consortium, consultative assembly, cosmic ray counter, council, council fire, council of ministers, council of state, council of war, counting tube, county council, court, crapper, crib, crypt, cubicle, cubiculum, deliberative assembly, diet, directory, divan, dormitory, electronic counter, enclosed space, expansion chamber, gamma ray counter, grand ballroom, haven, heavy particle counter, hold, hole, hollow, house, ion counter, ionization chamber, jerry, john, johnny, jordan, judicature, judiciary, junta, kitchen cabinet, latrine, legislature, manger, niche, nook, nursery, parish council, particle counter, pew, piss pot, potty, potty-chair, privy council, reception room, roof, room, rotunda, salle, shelter, shield, sleeping room, soviet, staff, stall, stool, syndicate, synod, throne, thunder mug, toilet, tribunal, tube counter, urinal, vault, water closet