vestibule

American  

[ves-tuh-byool] / ˈvɛs təˌbjul /

noun

vestibules plural

1. a passage, hall, or antechamber between the outer door and the interior parts of a house or building.

2. Railroads. an enclosed space at the end of a passenger car, serving as a sheltered entrance to the car from another car or from outside the train.

3. Anatomy, Zoology. any of various cavities or hollows regarded as forming an approach or entrance to another cavity or space, as that of the internal ear.

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verb (used with object)

vestibuled, vestibuling

1. to provide with a vestibule.

vestibule British  

/ vɛˈstɪbjʊlə, ˈvɛstɪˌbjuːl /

noun

1. a small entrance hall or anteroom; lobby

2. any small bodily cavity or space at the entrance to a passage or canal

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vestibule Scientific  

/ vĕs′tə-byo̅o̅l′ /

1. An oval cavity in the inner ear that together with the semicircular canals makes up the organ that maintains equilibrium in vertebrates.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• vestibular
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• vestibules
  plural

Etymology

Origin of vestibule

First recorded in 1615–25, vestibule is from the Latin word vestibulum forecourt, entrance

Explanation

A vestibule is a little area just inside the main door of a building, but before a second door. You often find vestibules in churches, because they help keep heat from escaping every time someone enters or exits. The noun vestibule, pronounced "VES-tih-bule," probably comes from the Latin word vestibulum, which means “entrance court.” From about 1880 to 1930 vestibules were popular features in new homes because they create an additional barrier that keeps heat or cool air in and street noise out. If you have a vestibule, you can hang coats and leave shoes and gloves there instead of bringing them into the living room, kitchen and so on.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

vestibule vestibules vestibuled

Students frantically flee between the desks and down the stairs; the Bridegroom’s parents argue in a vestibule; the Waitress and Markéta, on different levels, recall that last morning as though in a dream.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 8, 2026

In the vestibule, Katie Rudner folded programs for arriving guests and handed out envelopes for checks and helped with Venmo charges.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 22, 2025

Taking the photographs in a vestibule at the end of a carriage, Edwards taped a large bag to the opposite window to reduce the glare - though the train conductor was not so happy.

From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2024

Julia Andreasen, a graduate student at UM, was trapped in her tent for 24 hours after drifting snow buried the vestibule.

From Science Magazine ● Apr. 18, 2024

Booth closed the outer vestibule door behind him so quietly that no one heard anything.

From "Chasing Lincoln's Killer" by James L. Swanson

Some schools had security vestibules at their entrances and buzz-in systems to get inside from the outdoors.

From Salon ● May 27, 2022

That increased functionality starts right at the front door: The pandemic led to a resurgence in the popularity of foyers and vestibules at the main entryway.

From Seattle Times ● May 3, 2022

U.S. embassy spokesman Joseph Kruzich told the Economic Times that the embassy had employed measures, including supplementary air filtration and construction of vestibules, to provide clean air in workspaces.

From Reuters ● Nov. 7, 2016

For much of the last the decade, Charlie Chavez has spent his days like this, by street corners and library vestibules, trying to persuade people to sign whatever political petition he happens to be hawking.

From New York Times ● Oct. 23, 2010

Despite Pullman’s vestibules ice as fine as dust settled between coaches and filled Burnham’s train with the tang of deep winter.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

From the grotto thus vestibuled, issued hilariously forth the most considerable stream of the glen; which, seemingly overjoyed to find daylight in Willamilla, sprang into the arbor with a cheery, white bound.

From Mardi: and A Voyage Thither, Vol. I by Melville, Herman

Each and every word a seventeen-jointed vestibuled railroad train.

From Mark Twain's Speeches by Twain, Mark

For his apparel would have been more in place in the bare colonist cars of the first section than in the vestibuled, luxurious rear coaches of the second.

From Desert Conquest or, Precious Waters by Rowe, Clarence H. (Clarence Herbert)

Roger was out on the vestibuled platform before the wheels stopped screeching under the force of the brakes.

From The White Crystals Being an Account of the Adventures of Two Boys by Garis, Howard Roger

“Here is Stony Junction,” Dorothy remarked, as the trainman let in a gust of wind from the vestibuled door to shout out the name of that station.

From Dorothy Dale in the City by Penrose, Margaret

Related Words

• doorway
• foyer
• hallway
• porch