chamber
See also: Chamber
Contents
English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English chambre, borrowed from Old French chambre, from Latin camera, from Ancient Greek καμάρα (kamára, “vaulted chamber”). Doublet of camera.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
chamber (plural chambers)
- A room or set of rooms, particularly:
- Any individual's private room.
- 1845, Edgar Allen Poe, The Raven,
- Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
- Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,
- While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
- As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
- 1845, Edgar Allen Poe, The Raven,
- A bedroom.
- The private office of a judge.
- The room used for deliberation by a legislature.
- (Britain) A single law office in a building housing several.
- (dated, usually in the plural) Rooms in a lodging house.
- Thackeray
- ...a bachelor's life in chambers...
- Thackeray
- Any individual's private room.
- (obsolete) Clipping of chamber pot: a container used for urination and defecation in one's chambers.
-
1946, Elizabeth Metzger Howard, Before the Sun Goes Down, page 31:
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- (figuratively) The legislature or division of the legislature itself.
- The resolution, which speedily passed the Senate, was unable to gain a majority in the lower chamber.
- Any enclosed space occupying or similar to a room.
- A canal lock chamber; a furnace chamber; a test chamber
- (firearms) The area holding the ammunition round at the initiation of its discharge.
- Dianne loaded a cartridge into the chamber of the rifle, then prepared to take aim at the target.
- (firearms) One of the bullet-holding compartments in the cylinder of a revolver.
- (historical) A short piece of ordnance or cannon which stood on its breech without any carriage, formerly used chiefly for celebrations and theatrical cannonades.
Synonyms[edit]
- (chamber pot): See Thesaurus:chamber pot
Derived terms[edit]
Terms derived from chamber
Translations[edit]
room or set of rooms
bedroom
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room used for deliberation by a legislature
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single law office in a building housing several
chamber pot — see chamber pot
legislative body
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enclosed space similar to a room
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part of a firearm holding the round before firing
compartment holding a bullet of a revolver
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historical: short piece of ordnance for celebrations etc.
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
Translations to be checked
Verb[edit]
chamber (third-person singular simple present chambers, present participle chambering, simple past and past participle chambered)
- To enclose in a room.
- She had chambered herself in her room, and wouldn't come out.
- To reside in or occupy a chamber or chambers.
- 1893, Publications of the Scottish History Society (volume 14, page 64)
- I chambered with Alexander Preston.
- 1893, Publications of the Scottish History Society (volume 14, page 64)
- To place in a chamber, as a round of ammunition.
- The hunter fired at the geese and missed, then shrugged his shoulders and chambered another cartridge.
- To create or modify a gun to be a specific caliber.
- The rifle was originally chambered for 9mm, but had since been modified for a larger, wildcat caliber.
- In martial arts, to prepare an offensive, defensive, or counteroffensive action by drawing a limb or weapon to a position where it may be charged with kinetic energy.
- Bob chambered his fist for a blow, but Sheila struck first.
- (obsolete) To be lascivious.
Anagrams[edit]
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms borrowed from Old French
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms derived from Ancient Greek
- English doublets
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- British English
- English dated terms
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English clippings
- English terms with historical senses
- English verbs
- en:Collectives
- en:Rooms
- en:Containers