chair

[chair] /tʃɛər/
noun
1.
a seat, especially for one person, usually having four legs for support and a rest for the back and often having rests for the arms.
2.
something that serves as a chair or supports like a chair:
The two men clasped hands to make a chair for their injured companion.
3.
a seat of office or authority.
4.
a position of authority, as of a judge, professor, etc.
5.
the person occupying a seat of office, especially the chairperson of a meeting:
The speaker addressed the chair.
6.
(in an orchestra) the position of a player, assigned by rank; desk:
first clarinet chair.
7.
the chair, Informal. electric chair.
8.
chairlift.
9.
sedan chair.
10.
(in reinforced-concrete construction) a device for maintaining the position of reinforcing rods or strands during the pouring operation.
11.
a glassmaker's bench having extended arms on which a blowpipe is rolled in shaping glass.
12.
British Railroads. a metal block for supporting a rail and securing it to a crosstie or the like.
verb (used with object)
13.
to place or seat in a chair.
14.
to install in office.
15.
to preside over; act as chairperson of:
to chair a committee.
16.
British. to carry (a hero or victor) aloft in triumph.
verb (used without object)
17.
to preside over a meeting, committee, etc.
Idioms
18.
get the chair, to be sentenced to die in the electric chair.
19.
take the chair,
  1. to begin or open a meeting.
  2. to preside at a meeting; act as chairperson.
Origin
1250-1300; Middle English chaiere < Old French < Latin cathedra; see cathedra
Related forms
chairless, adjective
unchair, verb (used with object)
Can be confused
chair, chairman, chairperson, chairwoman (see usage note at chairperson)
Usage note
5. See chairperson.
Examples from the web for chair
  • He took a seat on a chair in the middle of the stage and tucked his legs up under him in the lotus position.
  • His chair is a simple rush-bottomed seat painted in sunny, yellow tones.
  • When going to bed, always position a chair behind the door as a safety pre-caution.
  • The furniture ranges from a bolted-down ski-lift chair to an old-fashioned school desk.
  • He is distinguished and sits well forward on the caned seat of his chair.
  • The chair has a tubular steel frame with woven multi-color solid plastic piping used for the chair's seat and back.
  • Invite your department chair to observe your teaching early on in the term.
  • If he fails to turn up, he risks being represented by an empty chair.
  • The boys take the first jet-powered office chair for its first run on the open road.
  • Imagine you are almost dozing in a lounge chair outside, with a magazine on your lap.
British Dictionary definitions for chair

chair

/tʃɛə/
noun
1.
a seat with a back on which one person sits, typically having four legs and often having arms
2.
an official position of authority: a chair on the board of directors
3.
the person chairing a debate or meeting: the speaker addressed the chair
4.
a professorship: the chair of German
5.
(railways) an iron or steel cradle bolted to a sleeper in which the rail sits and is locked in position
6.
short for sedan chair
7.
in the chair, chairing a debate or meeting
8.
take the chair, to preside as chairman for a meeting, etc
9.
the chair, an informal name for electric chair
verb (transitive)
10.
to preside over (a meeting)
11.
(Brit) to carry aloft in a sitting position after a triumph or great achievement
12.
to provide with a chair of office
13.
to install in a chair
Word Origin
C13: from Old French chaiere, from Latin cathedra, from Greek kathedra, from kata- down + hedra seat; compare cathedral
Word Origin and History for chair
n.

early 13c., chaere, from Old French chaiere "chair, seat, throne" (12c.; Modern French chaire "pulpit, throne;" the more modest sense having gone since 16c. with variant form chaise), from Latin cathedra "seat" (see cathedral).

Figurative sense of "authority" was in Middle English, of bishops and professors. Meaning "office of a professor" (1816) is extended from the seat from which a professor lectures (mid-15c.). Meaning "seat of a person presiding at meeting" is from 1640s. As short for electric chair from 1900.

v.

mid-15c., "install in a chair or seat" (implied in chairing), from chair (n.); meaning "preside over" (a meeting, etc.) is attested by 1921. Related: Chaired.

Idioms and Phrases with chair

chair

see: musical chairs