chamber

American  

[cheym-ber] / ˈtʃeɪm bər /

noun

1. a room, usually private, in a house or apartment, especially a bedroom.

   She retired to her chamber.

2. a room in a palace or official residence.

3. the meeting hall of a legislative or other assembly.

4. Law.  chambers,

   1. a place where a judge hears matters not requiring action in open court.

   2. the private office of a judge.

   3. (in England) the quarters or rooms that lawyers use to consult with their clients, especially in the Inns of Court.

5. a legislative, judicial, or other like body.

   the upper or the lower chamber of a legislature.

6. an organization of individuals or companies for a specified purpose.

7. the place where the moneys due a government are received and kept; a treasury or chamberlain's office.

8. (in early New England) any bedroom above the ground floor, generally named for the ground-floor room beneath it.

9. a compartment or enclosed space; cavity.

   a chamber of the heart.

10. (in a canal or the like) the space between any two gates of a lock.

11. a receptacle for one or more cartridges in a firearm, or for a shell in a gun or other cannon.

12. (in a gun) the part of the barrel that receives the charge.

13. chamber pot.

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or performing chamber music.

   chamber players.

verb (used with object)

1. to put or enclose in, or as in, a chamber.

2. to provide with a chamber.

chamber British  

/ ˈtʃeɪmbə /

noun

1. a meeting hall, esp one used for a legislative or judicial assembly

2. a reception room or audience room in an official residence, palace, etc

3. archaic  a room in a private house, esp a bedroom

4. 1. a legislative, deliberative, judicial, or administrative assembly

   2. any of the houses of a legislature

5. an enclosed space; compartment; cavity

   the smallest chamber in the caves

6. the space between two gates of the locks of a canal, dry dock, etc

7. an enclosure for a cartridge in the cylinder of a revolver or for a shell in the breech of a cannon

8. obsolete  a place where the money of a government, corporation, etc, was stored; treasury

9. short for chamber pot

10. the freezing room in an abattoir

11. (modifier) of, relating to, or suitable for chamber music

    a chamber concert

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verb

1. (tr) to put in or provide with a chamber

Other Word Forms

• underchamber noun

Etymology

Origin of chamber

1175–1225; Middle English chambre < Old French < Latin camera, variant of camara vaulted room, vault < Greek kamára

Example Sentences

The next level up is “Amber Status” in which ammunition is loaded in the weapon but not in the firing chamber.

From The Wall Street Journal

Rankin, the lone member of either chamber to vote against the declaration of war, became a pariah.

From The Wall Street Journal

It caused a buzz in the Commons chamber, as Treasury Minister Torsten Bell - who was sitting behind Rachel Reeves - passed his mobile phone to the chancellor presumably to notify her of the news.

From BBC

While Sioux City leaders had largely stayed mum, the local chamber of commerce was brokering a deal to drop the charges.

From The Wall Street Journal

While the party currently controls the lower chamber, 22 Republican representatives have already shared they won’t contest their seats in 2026.

From Salon

Related Words

• apartment
• bedroom
• box
• cell
• cubicle
• hall
• room