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.

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

But one of them, 70-year-old Jeff Olmstead, sat in a rocking chair.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 13, 2024

"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

Kennedy took a seat in his rocking chair and smiled for the cameras.

From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin

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