antechamber

Once inside the school cafeteria, which served as an antechamber, each candidate had his own booth.

We're standing in a dark, closet-sized antechamber just off a quiet street in Palermo Hollywood, Buenos Aires.

And the gruff voice of the drayman, growing impatient in the antechamber: "Come, come, make haste."

One morning, Jenkins having called in the course of his round, found Constance alone and doing nothing in the antechamber.