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

Explanation

A chamber is an enclosed space, often where a specific event usually takes place — such as a sleeping chamber or a torture chamber. The history of the word chamber is an interesting one. The Latin word for room was camera. The original word for camera was camera obscura, or "dark chamber," since it was a big black box. Now, the word chamber can refer to any enclosed space — such as the chamber of a gun or the four chambers of your heart.

Example Sentences

A confirmation hearing could still take place in the coming weeks, though Senate officials have offered conflicting timelines and the chamber has confirmed nothing officially.

From Barron's • Apr. 7, 2026

A few days later, she attended a virtual hearing before a Supreme Court judge, seated in his book-lined chamber.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 30, 2026

The chamber finally reached its resolution on funding DHS for two simple reasons.

From Slate • Mar. 28, 2026

He frequently uses the instrumentalists in the chamber orchestra like theatrical characters.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 27, 2026

We glanced past the trunk, around the flowered chamber pot beneath the bed.

From "Secrets at Sea" by Richard Peck

Related Words

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