chassis
Americannoun
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Automotive. the frame, wheels, and machinery of a motor vehicle, on which the body is supported.
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Ordnance. the frame or railway on which a gun carriage moves backward and forward.
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the main landing gear of an aircraft; that portion of the landing gear that supports an aircraft.
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Radio and Television. a frame for mounting the circuit components of a radio or television set.
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a construction forming the sides, top, and bottom of a cabinet, showcase, or the like.
noun
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the steel frame, wheels, engine, and mechanical parts of a motor vehicle, to which the body is attached
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electronics a mounting for the circuit components of an electrical or electronic device, such as a radio or television
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the landing gear of an aircraft
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obsolete a wooden framework for a window, screen, etc
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the frame on which a cannon carriage moves backwards and forwards
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slang the body of a person, esp a woman
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of chassis
1655–65; < French châssis frame; akin to chase 2
Explanation
A chassis is the frame of a car. If you warp the chassis of your mom’s car when you make a Dukes of Hazzard jump, she's going to be mad. Pronounce chassis CHASS-ee (singular) and CHASS-eez (plural). Chassis comes from the Latin capsa, meaning box. In the 1600s, chassis referred to window frames, and starting with early automobile production, acquired its dominant meaning, i.e., the box that is the frame for the car. It also means other kinds of frame/boxes too — if you have a radio or a stereo, the outside box is called a chassis.
Vocabulary lists containing chassis
The Lightning Thief
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The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
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National Spelling Bee '14: Prelims Round 2
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In the context of the season, it's Barcelona that seems the anomaly, not Austria, not withstanding the chassis upgrade introduced in Spain and the engine boost in Austria.
From BBC • Jun. 30, 2026
For instance, eliminating the requirement that manufactured homes include a metal-frame chassis would, by some estimates, save up to $10,000 on each of those units.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 24, 2026
Another key is revising a 1974 law to allow manufactured homes to be built without a permanent chassis, they said.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 22, 2026
The spacecraft chassis for Psyche's high power solar-electric propulsion system was provided by Intuitive Machines in Palo Alto, California.
From Science Daily • May 26, 2026
The seats re-sculpted under our bodies, and the chassis screamed as it warped.
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
