chair
noun
- item of furniture used to sit on
verb
- To preside over, often in a leadership context
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /t͡ʃɛə/ / /t͡ʃɛː/ / /t͡ʃeɹ/
name
Etymology: Blend of Chuck + Blair.
- The ship of characters Chuck Bass and Blair Waldorf of the Gossip Girl series.
“His skill renders Becker's portrayal of Prince Grimaldi, a lover and future husband, futile in the wake of Chair (Chuck and Blair).”
“We can already tell which idyllic couples obsessive fans will fantasize about like Chair (Chuck and Blaire of "Gossip Girl") and Jim and Pam of "The Office."”
noun
Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱe? Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥-th₂der.? Proto-Hellenic *kətá Ancient Greek κατά (katá) Proto-Indo-European *sed-der. Proto-Indo-European *sedreh₂ Proto-Hellenic *hédrā Ancient Greek ἕδρα (hédra) Ancient Greek κᾰθέδρᾱ (kăthédrā)bor. Latin cathedrader. Old French chaierebor. Middle English chayere English chair From Middle English chayere, chayer, chayre, from Old French chaiere, chaere, from Latin cathedra (“seat”), from Ancient Greek καθέδρα (kathédra), from κατά (katá, “down”) + ἕδρα (hédra, “seat”). Partially displaced native stool and settle, which now have more specialised senses. Doublet of cathedra and chaise.
- An item of furniture used to sit on or in, comprising a seat, legs or wheels, back, and sometimes arm rests, for use by one person.
“All I need to weather a snowstorm is hot coffee, a warm fire, a good book and a comfortable chair.”
“I sat on my chair to have dinner.”
- Clipping of chairperson.
“Under the rules of order adopted by the board, the chair may neither make nor second motions.”
“The Chair behaves himself like a Busby amongst so many school-boys[…]and takes a little too much on him.”
- The post or position of chairperson.
“The meeting began, with Mr Roberts in the chair.”
- The seating position of a particular musician in an orchestra.
“My violin teacher used to play first chair with the Boston Pops.”
- A cast-iron component used on railways to support bullhead rails and secure them to the sleepers.
“The wooden or steel keys used to secure bull-head rails in their chairs are usually driven in the direction of the traffic, so that the effects of rail-creep may be made use of to wedge the keys more firmly, rather than to encourage them to drop out.”
- One of two possible conformers of cyclohexane rings (the other being boat), shaped roughly like a chair.
- Ellipsis of electric chair (“device used for performing execution”).
“The court will show no mercy; if he gets convicted, it's the chair for him.”
“"It was me. And I'm glad, damned glad, I didn't croak him. With this slick guy after me, it would be me for the chair."”
- A distinguished professorship at a university.
“In 1928 [Martin] Heidegger succeeded [Edmund] Husserl to take a chair at Freiburg […]”
- A vehicle for one person; either a sedan borne upon poles, or a two-wheeled carriage drawn by one horse; a gig.
“Enter Mortimer, brought in a Chayre, and Iaylors.”
“She always leaves her Chair at the milliner's in the next Street.”
- The seat or office of a person in authority, such as a judge or bishop.
- An assigned position in a beauty salon or barbershop.
“Melinda has the best chair in the salon.”
verb
Etymology: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱe? Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥-th₂der.? Proto-Hellenic *kətá Ancient Greek κατά (katá) Proto-Indo-European *sed-der. Proto-Indo-European *sedreh₂ Proto-Hellenic *hédrā Ancient Greek ἕδρα (hédra) Ancient Greek κᾰθέδρᾱ (kăthédrā)bor. Latin cathedrader. Old French chaierebor. Middle English chayere English chair From Middle English chayere, chayer, chayre, from Old French chaiere, chaere, from Latin cathedra (“seat”), from Ancient Greek καθέδρα (kathédra), from κατά (katá, “down”) + ἕδρα (hédra, “seat”). Partially displaced native stool and settle, which now have more specialised senses. Doublet of cathedra and chaise.
- To act as chairperson at; to preside over.
“Bob will chair tomorrow's meeting.”
“Dama ben Netina, the gentile "Mayor" of first-century Ashkelon, was once chairing a meeting of the City Council.”
- To carry in a seated position upon one's shoulders, especially in celebration or victory.
“The time you won your town the race We chaired you through the marketplace.”
- To award a chair to (a winning poet) at a Welsh eisteddfod.
“The poet was chaired at the national Eisteddfod.”