chair
a seat, especially for one person, usually having four legs for support and a rest for the back and often having rests for the arms.
something that serves as a chair or supports like a chair: The two men clasped hands to make a chair for their injured companion.
a seat of office or authority.
a position of authority, as of a judge, professor, etc.
the person occupying a seat of office, especially the chairperson of a meeting: The speaker addressed the chair.
(in an orchestra) the position of a player, assigned by rank; desk: first clarinet chair.
the chair, Informal. electric chair.
(in reinforced-concrete construction) a device for maintaining the position of reinforcing rods or strands during the pouring operation.
a glassmaker's bench having extended arms on which a blowpipe is rolled in shaping glass.
British Railroads. a metal block for supporting a rail and securing it to a crosstie or the like.
to place or seat in a chair.
to install in office.
to preside over; act as chairperson of: to chair a committee.
British. to carry (a hero or victor) aloft in triumph.
to preside over a meeting, committee, etc.
Idioms about chair
get the chair, to be sentenced to die in the electric chair.
take the chair,
to begin or open a meeting.
to preside at a meeting; act as chairperson.
Origin of chair
1usage note For chair
Other words from chair
- chair·less, adjective
- un·chair, verb (used with object)
Words that may be confused with chair
- chair , chairman, chairperson, chairwoman
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use chair in a sentence
Haaland is also the vice chair of the House Committee on Natural Resources and the chair of the subcommittee on national parks, forests, and public lands, and sits on the subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States.
His father flew out of his chair and swatted away the straw — and my string of apologies.
Eighty years of memories that will stir readers’ own | Connie Schultz | November 20, 2020 | Washington PostRather than say anything, I simply scooted my chair back a few more feet.
Miss Manners: Polite alternatives to ‘Pull your mask up, bozo!’ | Judith Martin, Nicholas Martin, Jacobina Martin | November 20, 2020 | Washington PostJennifer Redmond, the deputy chair of elections for Wayne County, choked up as she addressed the board.
For three hours, an obscure county board in Michigan was at the center of U.S. politics | Kayla Ruble, Tom Hamburger, David Fahrenthold | November 19, 2020 | Washington PostPull that out and leave it on a chair, just in case someone wants to wriggle in for a full-body snuggle.
He co-chaired Doctors for Obama, and once tweeted that guns are a health issue.
Its board of directors is chaired by billionaire industrialist and conservative political donor Charles G. Koch.
The Sleazy War on the Humane Society | Center for Public Integrity | August 18, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThis isn't the first scandal for Conyers, who chaired the House Judiciary Committee from 2006-2010.
After 49 Years In Congress, John Conyers May Not Make The Ballot | Ben Jacobs | May 2, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTHe co-chaired the advocacy group Doctors for Obama during the 2008 presidential campaign.
Meet Obama’s Controversial Surgeon General Nominee | Soumitra R. Eachempati, MD | February 14, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIt was sponsored by something called the American Fact-Finding Committee, chaired by ring-wing organizer Bernard Weissman.
Dallas Lays Elaborate but Dignified Plans to Celebrate Assassination Anniversary | Helen Anders | November 2, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTI would have thee to understand, sirrah, that thou art fitter for the house they have chaired thee unto than for mine.
There was a famous contest for Hampton when I was not more than twelve years old: we went to see the members chaired.
The Vicissitudes of Bessie Fairfax | Harriet ParrI would have thee to understand, sirrah, that thou art fitter for the House they have chaired thee unto than for mine.
Imaginary Conversations and Poems | Walter Savage LandorGeorge Lamb was to have been chaired on the day he was elected, but the mob was outrageous and would not suffer it.
The Greville Memoirs | Charles C. F. GrevilleThe day the member was chaired, several men in Coningsby's rooms were talking over their triumph.
Coningsby | Benjamin Disraeli
British Dictionary definitions for chair
/ (tʃɛə) /
a seat with a back on which one person sits, typically having four legs and often having arms
an official position of authority: a chair on the board of directors
the person chairing a debate or meeting: the speaker addressed the chair
a professorship: the chair of German
railways an iron or steel cradle bolted to a sleeper in which the rail sits and is locked in position
short for sedan chair
in the chair chairing a debate or meeting
take the chair to preside as chairman for a meeting, etc
the chair an informal name for electric chair
to preside over (a meeting)
British to carry aloft in a sitting position after a triumph or great achievement
to provide with a chair of office
to install in a chair
Origin of chair
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with chair
see musical chairs.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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