rocking chair

American

noun

a chair mounted on rockers or springs so as to permit a person to rock back and forth while sitting.

rocking chair British

noun

a chair set on curving supports so that the sitter may rock backwards and forwards

"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 rocking chair

An Americanism dating back to 1750–60

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.

“Kin” deftly alternates points of view between Vernice and Annie, narrating events by way of a vernacular that would be at home on a front porch rocking chair.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 24, 2026

I’d rather have a big pile of Benjamins when I’m ready for my rocking chair.

From MarketWatch • Jan. 27, 2026

The school takes advantage of all the free resources it can get, and adopted a rocking chair for a reading corner.

From BBC • Dec. 27, 2025

"Some of us are just made that way. We are not made to sit in a rocking chair and knit," KlimaSeniorinnen member Elisabeth Stern, 76, told BBC News.

From Salon • Apr. 10, 2024

Widow Medvedeva was snoring in her rocking chair on the front lawn as Anya walked up to her house.

From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023