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Chamber

 - 7 dictionary results

cham⋅ber

[cheym-ber]
–noun
1. a room, usually private, in a house or apartment, esp. a bedroom: She retired to her chamber.
2. a room in a palace or official residence.
3. the meeting hall of a legislative or other assembly.
4. chambers, Law.
a. a place where a judge hears matters not requiring action in open court.
b. the private office of a judge.
c. (in England) the quarters or rooms that lawyers use to consult with their clients, esp. in the Inns of Court.
5. a legislative, judicial, or other like body: the upper or the lower chamber of a legislature.
6. an organization of individuals or companies for a specified purpose.
7. the place where the moneys due a government are received and kept; a treasury or chamberlain's office.
8. (in early New England) any bedroom above the ground floor, generally named for the ground-floor room beneath it.
9. a compartment or enclosed space; cavity: a chamber of the heart.
10. (in a canal or the like) the space between any two gates of a lock.
11. a receptacle for one or more cartridges in a firearm, or for a shell in a gun or other cannon.
12. (in a gun) the part of the barrel that receives the charge.
13. chamber pot.
–adjective
14. of, pertaining to, or performing chamber music: chamber players.
–verb (used with object)
15. to put or enclose in, or as in, a chamber.
16. to provide with a chamber.

Origin:
1175–1225; ME chambre < OF < L camera, var. of camara vaulted room, vault < Gk kamára
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To Chamber
cham·ber   (chām'bər)   
n.  
  1. A room in a house, especially a bedroom.

  2. A room where a person of authority, rank, or importance receives visitors.

  3. chambers A room in which a judge may consult privately with attorneys or hear cases not taken into court.

  4. chambers Chiefly British A suite of rooms, especially one used by lawyers.

  5. A hall for the meetings of a legislative or other assembly.

  6. A legislative or judicial body.

  7. A board or council.

  8. A place where municipal or state funds are received and held; a treasury.

    1. An enclosed space or compartment: the chamber of a pump; a compression chamber.

    2. An enclosed space in the body of an organism; a cavity: the four chambers of the heart.

    3. A compartment in a firearm, as in the breech of a rifle or the cylinder of a revolver, that holds the cartridge in readiness for firing.

    4. An enclosed space in the bore of a gun that holds the charge.

    1. A compartment in a firearm, as in the breech of a rifle or the cylinder of a revolver, that holds the cartridge in readiness for firing.

    2. An enclosed space in the bore of a gun that holds the charge.

tr.v.   cham·bered, cham·ber·ing, cham·bers
  1. To put in or as if in a chamber; enclose or confine.

  2. To furnish with a chamber.

  3. To design or manufacture (a firearm) to hold a specific type of cartridge.


[Middle English chaumbre, from Old French chambre, from Late Latin camera, chamber, from Latin, vault, from Greek kamarā.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

chamber 
c.1225, from O.Fr. chambre, from L.L. camera "a chamber, room" (see camera). Chamber-pot is from 1570; chambermaid is from 1587; chamber music (1789) is music fitted for performance in a private room instead of a concert hall.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: cham·ber
Function: noun
1 : a judge's office; specifically : the private office where a judge carries on business other than court sessions (as conferences or signing papers) —usually used in pl. chambers —Railroad H. Bork> chambers>
2 a : a hall for the meetings of a deliberative, legislative, or judicial body or assembly chamber —Tip O'Neill> b : a legislative or judicial body :
HOUSE chamber of Congress —U.S. Code>
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: cham·ber
Pronunciation: 'chAm-b&r
Function: noun
: an enclosed space within the body of an animal —see ANTERIOR CHAMBER, POSTERIOR CHAMBER
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

chamber cham·ber (chām'bər)
n.
A compartment or enclosed space.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Bible Dictionary

Chamber

"on the wall," which the Shunammite prepared for the prophet Elisha (2 Kings 4:10), was an upper chamber over the porch through the hall toward the street. This was the "guest chamber" where entertainments were prepared (Mark 14:14). There were also "chambers within chambers" (1 Kings 22:25; 2 Kings 9:2). To enter into a chamber is used metaphorically of prayer and communion with God (Isa. 26:20). The "chambers of the south" (Job 9:9) are probably the constelations of the southern hemisphere. The "chambers of imagery", i.e., chambers painted with images, as used by Ezekiel (8:12), is an expression denoting the vision the prophet had of the abominations practised by the Jews in Jerusalem.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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