Definition of 'chair'
COBUILD frequency band
chair
Word forms: plural, 3rd person singular present tense chairs , present participle chairing , past tense, past participle chaired
1. countable noun A1
A chair is a piece of furniture for one person to sit on. Chairs have a back and four legs.
2. countable noun [usually singular]
3. countable noun [usually singular] B2
5. singular noun
The chair is a method of killing criminals, used especially in the United States, in which a person is strapped to a special chair and killed by a powerful electric current.
[US]Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Image of chair
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British English pronunciation
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COBUILD frequency band
chair in British English
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
5. railways
6. short for sedan chair
7. See in the chair
8. See take the chair
9. See the chair
verb (transitive)
10.
to preside over (a meeting)
12.
to provide with a chair of office
13.
to install in a chair
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word origin
C13: from Old French chaiere, from Latin cathedra, from Greek kathedra, from kata- down + hedra seat; compare cathedralCOBUILD frequency band
chair in American English
nounOrigin: ME & OFr chaire < L cathedra: see cathedra
1.
a piece of furniture for one person to sit on, having a back and, usually, four legs
2.
a seat of authority or dignity
3.
4.
an important or official position, as a professorship
6. sedan chair
verb transitive
8.
to place in a chair; seat
9.
to place in authority
10.
to preside over as chairperson
11. British
to carry (a person) aloft in public triumph on, or as though on, a chair
Idioms:
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 5th Digital Edition. Copyright © 2025 HarperCollins Publishers.
COBUILD frequency band
chair in American English
(tʃɛər)
noun
1.
a seat, esp. 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, esp. the chairperson of a meeting
The speaker addressed the chair
7. See the chair
8.
9. See sedan chair
10. (in reinforced-concrete construction)
13. See get the chair
14. See take the chair
transitive verb
15.
to place or seat in a chair
16.
to install in office
17.
to preside over; act as chairperson of
to chair a committee
intransitive verb
USAGE 5. See chairperson.19.
to preside over a meeting, committee, etc.
Most material © 2005, 1997, 1991 by Penguin Random House LLC. Modified entries © 2019 by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Derived forms
chairless adjective
COBUILD frequency band
chair in Hospitality
(tʃɛər)
Word forms: (regular plural) chairs
noun
(Hospitality (hotel): Restaurant, equipment)
A chair is a piece of furniture for one person to sit on, with a back and four legs.
We arranged five chairs around each table.
I put the chairs back beside the tables in the dining room.
The main hall has seating for 12 which can extend to 14 with extra chairs.
Collins COBUILD Key Words for Hospitality. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Examples of 'chair' in a sentence chair
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In other languages
chair
British English: chair
/tʃɛə/ NOUN
seat A chair is a piece of furniture for one person to sit on, with a back and four legs.
He rose from his chair and walked to the window.
- American English: chair /tˈʃɛər/ furniture
- Arabic: كُرْسِيّ
- Brazilian Portuguese: cadeira
- Chinese: 椅子
- Croatian: stolica
- Czech: židle
- Danish: stol
- Dutch: stoel
- European Spanish: silla
- Finnish: tuoli
- French: chaise
- German: Stuhl
- Greek: καρέκλα
- Italian: sedia
- Japanese: 椅子
- Korean: 의자
- Norwegian: stol
- Polish: krzesło
- European Portuguese: cadeira
- Romanian: scaun
- Russian: стул
- Latin American Spanish: silla
- Swedish: stol
- Thai: เก้าอี้
- Turkish: sandalye
- Ukrainian: стілець
- Vietnamese: ghế
British English: chair
VERB /tʃɛə/
If you chair a meeting or a committee, you are the person in charge of it.
He was about to chair a meeting of foreign ministers.
- American English: chair /tˈʃɛər/
- Brazilian Portuguese: presidir
- Chinese: 担任 会议、委员会 主席
- European Spanish: presidir
- French: présider
- German: den Vorsitz führen bei
- Italian: presiedere
- Japanese: 議長を務める
- Korean: 회의 등을 주재하다
- European Portuguese: presidir
- Latin American Spanish: presidir
- Thai: ดำรงตำแหน่งประธาน
