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chimney breast

American  

noun

  1. a part of a chimney or fireplace that projects out from the wall, usually inside the building.


chimney breast British  

noun

  1. the wall or walls that surround the base of a chimney or fireplace

"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

Etymology

Origin of chimney breast

First recorded in 1835–45

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.

See Examples For:

When the producers called me, I was on a rooftop, doing some lead flashing around a chimney breast.

From The Guardian Jun. 12, 2020

Staff at The Venue said a neighbouring building's chimney breast had collapsed and fallen onto the roof, causing it to cave in.

From BBC Feb. 9, 2020

The color was introduced in the living room, on the shelves alongside the chimney breast, and was continued into the hall, on the baseboards and the door frames.

From The New Yorker Mar. 11, 2019

Opposite the cedar in the entrance hall, a quartzite wall rises to the second level, where it becomes the living area’s fireplace surround and chimney breast.

From Architectural Digest May 5, 2015

The sight of her standing a-tiptoe to touch off the candles on the chimney breast set the old lovespell at work to make my heart beat faster.

From The Master of Appleby A Novel Tale Concerning Itself in Part with the Great Struggle in the Two Carolinas; but Chiefly with the Adventures Therein of Two Gentlemen Who Loved One and the Same Lady by Francis Lynde

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