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.
- chairlift.
- sedan 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.
- 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
Usage note
Related Words for chair
bench, armchair, recliner, sling, rocker, cathedra, throne, chairperson, monitor, fellowship, director, tutor, helm, captain, leader, principal, tutorship, professorship, instructorship, professorateExamples from the Web for chair
Contemporary Examples of chair
While 19 percent of the House is female, just one woman will get to chair one of its 20 committees.
Still fearful and smarting from the pain, I arrived on time and was led to chair in his office.
I started to squirm in my chair and Jimbo put his hand back on my shoulder to settle me down.
Slouching in her chair she is in defensive mode when describing the age of her latest lover.
At that first meeting, activists elected Nobel laureate Andrei Sakharov to be the chair for their society.
Historical Examples of chair
He sat down in a chair, and stretched out his legs, with an air of being at home.
Brave and BoldHoratio Alger
Percval quickly helped him into a chair, where he became limp.
The SpendersHarry Leon Wilson
"I knew he'd plunge," he said, taking the chair proffered him, near Shepler's desk.
The SpendersHarry Leon Wilson
Grace sprang from her chair and began slipping into her wraps.
Grace Harlowe's Return to Overton CampusJessie Graham Flower
Opposite him sat a tall fellow very erect and stiff in his chair.
Way of the LawlessMax Brand
chair
- a seat with a back on which one person sits, typically having four legs and often having arms
- an official position of authoritya chair on the board of directors
- the person chairing a debate or meetingthe speaker addressed the chair
- a professorshipthe 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
Word Origin for chair
Word Origin and History for chair
early 13c., chaere, from Old French chaiere "chair, seat, throne" (12c.; Modern French chaire "pulpit, throne;" the more modest sense having gone since 16c. with variant form chaise), from Latin cathedra "seat" (see cathedral).
Figurative sense of "authority" was in Middle English, of bishops and professors. Meaning "office of a professor" (1816) is extended from the seat from which a professor lectures (mid-15c.). Meaning "seat of a person presiding at meeting" is from 1640s. As short for electric chair from 1900.
mid-15c., "install in a chair or seat" (implied in chairing), from chair (n.); meaning "preside over" (a meeting, etc.) is attested by 1921. Related: Chaired.
Idioms and Phrases with chair
chair
see musical chairs.