chair

[chair]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR chair ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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.

verb (used with object)

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.

verb (used without object)

to preside over a meeting, committee, etc.

Idioms

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

1250–1300; Middle English chaiere < Old French < Latin cathedra; see cathedra

Related formschair·less, adjectiveun·chair, verb (used with object)

Can be confusedchair chairman chairperson chairwoman (see usage note at chairperson)

Usage note

5. See chairperson.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for chair

bench, armchair, recliner, sling, rocker, cathedra, throne, chairperson, monitor, fellowship, director, tutor, helm, captain, leader, principal, tutorship, professorship, instructorship, professorate

Examples 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.
The Unbearable Whiteness of Congress
Dean Obeidallah
January 8, 2015
Still fearful and smarting from the pain, I arrived on time and was led to chair in his office.
I Was Gang Raped at a UVA Frat 30 Years Ago, and No One Did Anything
Liz Seccuro
December 16, 2014
I started to squirm in my chair and Jimbo put his hand back on my shoulder to settle me down.
I Shot Bin Laden
Elliot Ackerman
November 16, 2014
Slouching in her chair she is in defensive mode when describing the age of her latest lover.
When Eva Braun Met Anna Nicole Smith
Nico Hines
October 26, 2014
At that first meeting, activists elected Nobel laureate Andrei Sakharov to be the chair for their society.
The Kremlin’s Plan to Erase Russia’s Memory and Its Conscience
Anna Nemtsova
October 13, 2014

Historical Examples of chair

He sat down in a chair, and stretched out his legs, with an air of being at home.
Brave and Bold
Horatio Alger
Percval quickly helped him into a chair, where he became limp.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
"I knew he'd plunge," he said, taking the chair proffered him, near Shepler's desk.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
Grace sprang from her chair and began slipping into her wraps.
Grace Harlowe's Return to Overton Campus
Jessie Graham Flower
Opposite him sat a tall fellow very erect and stiff in his chair.
Way of the Lawless
Max Brand

British Dictionary definitions for chair

chair

noun

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

verb (tr)

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

C13: from Old French chaiere, from Latin cathedra, from Greek kathedra, from kata- down + hedra seat; compare cathedral

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.