[chan.cery] n, pl -cer.ies [ME chancerie, alter. of chancellerie chancellery, fr. OF, fr. chancelier] (14c) 1 a cap: a high court of equity in England and Wales with common-law functions and jurisdiction over causes in equity b: a court of equity in the American judicial system c: the principles and practice of judicial equity
2: a record office for public archives or those of ecclesiastical, legal, or diplomatic proceedings 3 a: a chancellor's court or office or the building in which it is located b: the office in which the business of a Roman Catholic diocese is transacted and recorded c: the office of an embassy: chancellery 3 -- in chancery 1: in litigation in a court of chancery; also: under the superintendence of the lord chancellor "a ward in chancery"
2: i n a hopeless predicament