CHAMBER


Meaning of CHAMBER in English

I. ˈchāmbə(r) noun

( -s )

Etymology: Middle English chambre, from Old French, from Late Latin camera, from Latin, arched roof, from Greek kamara vault; akin to Latin camur curved, Avestan kamarā girdle

1. : a room usually in a house and typically with some special feature or distinguishing characteristic:

a. : a private room: as

(1) : bedroom

(2) : a room situated above the ground floor of a house

b. chiefly Britain : a suite of rooms : apartment — used in plural

he lived in chambers which had once belonged to his deceased partner — Charles Dickens

c. South : a ground-floor sitting room usually furnished with a bed

d. chiefly New England : a storage room on an upper floor of a house or barn

e. : the upper level of the inner stage of an Elizabethan playhouse typically used to represent a room of intimate or domestic character — compare study

2. : an enclosed or compartmented space within the body of an animal

anterior and posterior chambers of the eye

3. : an often large room devoted to some special or unusual purpose

the reception hall, a magnificent chamber two stories high … executed in a manner that could be called palatial — Lewis Mumford

a. : a hall for the meetings of a deliberative, legislative, or judicial body or assembly

senate chamber

council chamber

b. : a chamberlain's office : a treasury or room where government moneys are received and kept

c. : a room to which a judge retires for consultation (as with opposing counsel) or for official proceedings that may be conducted out of court — usually used in plural

Judge Winters reentered the courtroom from his chambers — Erle Stanley Gardner

d. : the reception room of a person of high rank or authority

the king's audience chamber

4.

a. : a legislative or judicial body ; especially : either of the houses of a bicameral legislature

b. : a voluntary board or council (as for some business purpose)

5.

a. obsolete : a detached plug containing the charge inserted at the breech of heavy firearms

b. obsolete : a short cannon that stood on its breech and that was used for celebrations and in the theater

c. : the part of the bore of a gun that holds the charge — see cannon illustration

d. : the part of a firearm tooled to receive the cartridge: as

(1) : any of the barrels containing the cartridge in an old revolver

(2) : a compartment in the cartridge cylinder of a revolver

6. : an enclosed or compartmented space designed for some special purpose

a dyeing chamber

a gear chamber

7. : a canal lock

8. : chamber pot

• chambered adjective

II. transitive verb

( chambered ; chambered ; chambering -b(ə)riŋ ; chambers )

Etymology: Middle English chambren, from chambre, n.

1. : to place in or as if in a chamber : shelter , house , confine

chambered in a narrow cave

2. : to furnish with a chamber

chambered corridors

3. : to serve as a chamber for ; especially : to accommodate in the chamber of a firearm

a rifle that will chamber short, long, or long-rifle cartridges

4. : to enlarge the bottom of (a drill hole) by one or more light preliminary shots so that a sufficient blasting charge may be loaded for the final shot

III. adjective

Etymology: chamber (I)

1. : conducted with or marked by privacy or secrecy

personal chamber studies

the king's chamber council

2. : intended for performance by a few musicians for a small audience : intimate

chamber works

chamber opera

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.