chair
chair
/tʃeə(r)/
1 countable a piece of furniture for one person to sit on, with a back, a seat and four legs a table and chairs
on a chair Sit on your chair!
in a chair an old man asleep in a chair (= an armchair)
She was sitting in her favourite chair.
He sighed and leaned back in his chair.
‘Sit down,’ she said, pointing to the empty chair next to her.
a comfortable chair
a wooden/leather/plastic chair
a folding/reclining/swivel chair
an office/a desk chair
SEE ALSO armchair, bath chair, deckchair, director’s chair, easy chair, electric chair, high chair, lawn chair, lounge chair, musical chairs, rocking chair, sedan chair, wheelchair, wing chair Collocations
adjective
… of chairs
verb + chair
chair + verb
chair + noun
preposition
into a/the chair
in a/the chair
on a/the chair…
phrases
the arm of a chair
the back of a chair
the edge of a chair
in the chair Who is in the chair today?
All remarks should be addressed to the chair.
She takes the chair in all our meetings.
chair of something the chair of the committee
He was elected chair of the city council.
The chairs of all the subcommittees will meet on Friday.
Collocations
adjective
verb + chair
preposition
in the chair
3 countable the position of being in charge of a department in a university; a special position as a university professor He holds the chair of philosophy at Oxford.
the department chair
She was awarded a personal chair in black history at Bath Spa University (= she was made a professor without being head of a department).
Collocations
adjective
verb + chair
4 the chair (US English, informal) (also electric chair British and North American English)
singular (especially in the US) a chair in which criminals are killed by having a powerful electric current passed through their bodies; the method of execution that uses this chair chair
/tʃeə(r)/
chair something to act as the chairman or chairwoman of a meeting, discussion, etc.
to chair a committee
Who's chairing the meeting?
a judging panel chaired by a radio presenter.
Word Origin
Middle English: from Old French chaiere (modern chaire ‘bishop's throne, etc.’, chaise ‘chair’), from Latin cathedra ‘seat’, from Greek kathedra. Compare with cathedral.