n. & v.
--n.
1. a separate seat for one person, of various forms, usu. having a back and four legs.
2 a a professorship (offered the chair in physics). b a seat of authority, esp. on a board of directors. c a mayoralty.
3 a a chairperson. b the seat or office of a chairperson (will you take the chair?; I'm in the chair).
4 US electric chair.
5 an iron or steel socket holding a railway rail in place.
6 hist. sedan chair.
--v.tr.
1. act as chairperson of or preside over (a meeting).
2 Brit. carry (a person) aloft in a chair or in a sitting position, in triumph.
3 install in a chair, esp. as a position of authority.
Phrases and idioms:
chair-bed a chair that unfolds into a bed. chair-borne colloq. (of an administrator) not active. chair-car a railway carriage with chairs instead of long seats; a parlour car. chair-lift a series of chairs on an endless cable for carrying passengers up and down a mountain etc. take a chair sit down.
Etymology: ME f. AF chaere, OF chaiere f. L cathedra f. Gk kathedra: see CATHEDRAL