See Also: gas chamber(dictionary)
chamber pot(dictionary)
chamber(dictionary)
chamber(dictionary)
CHAMBER(law)
Chamber(medicine)
Air chamber(medicine)
Chamber, posterior(health)
cloud chamber(encyclopedia)
chamber of commerce(encyclopedia)

chamber (iou)



chamber noun & verb. ME.
[Old & mod. French chambre from Latin CAMERA.]
A. noun.
An apartment in a house or other place of residence; a private room, esp. a bedroom. Now arch. or poet. exc. in comb. & as in sense b below. ME.
audience-chamber, bedchamber, guest-chamber, presence chamber, etc. chamber of dais, chamber of deas Scot. a parlour, a best bedroom. robe de chambre: see ROBE noun1.
b. In pl. A set of rooms in a larger building, esp. in the Inns of Court, let separately. Also, a judge's room for hearing cases, or for other official proceedings, out of court. M17.
(A hall used by) a deliberative or judicial body; esp. each of the houses of a parliament. LME.
council-chamber, Star Chamber, etc. Chamber of Commerce an association to promote and protect the interests of local commerce. Chamber of Trade a national organization representing local Chambers of Commerce. Lower Chamber: see LOWER adjective. privy chamber: see PRIVY adjective. Red Chamber: see RED adjective. second chamber: see SECOND adjective. SYNDICAL chamber.
The hangings or furniture of a chamber. Now rare or obsolete. LME.
The treasury of a government, corporation, etc. Now arch. or Hist. LME.
A cavity in the body of an animal or plant. LME.
P. Parish The volume of blood in the heart chambers.
a. A detached charge piece put into the breech of a gun. LME-M19.
b. A piece of ordnance standing on its breech, used to fire salutes etc. M16-M18.
A kingdom's chief city etc.; a royal residence; a royal port. M16-L17.
A relatively spacious underground hollow or section of such a hollow (dug out by an animal etc. or as a natural formation). L16.
F. Hoyle Although the cave is nearly 300 metres long, most of the paintings are in a chamber 18 by 9 metres.
b. Mining. A large well-defined deposit of ore. L19.
A part of a firearm in which a charge is placed, as a space in the bore of old ordnance, each of the bores of an early revolver, (each section of) the cartridge compartment of a modern revolver, etc. L16.
gen. A space, cavity, or room constructed for various purposes (specified or identified contextually); an enclosed space or compartment in a structure, mechanism, etc. M18.
bubble chamber, cloud chamber, decompression chamber, fume-chamber, gas chamber, spark chamber, etc. Chamber of Horrors: see HORROR noun. lethal chamber: see LETHAL adjective. torture chamber: see TORTURE noun.
A chamber-pot. L19.
Comb.: chamber concert a concert of chamber music; chamber-council a private concern; chamber-deacon Hist. a poor clerk, esp. from Ireland, frequenting an English university in the 15th cent. and not belonging to any college or hall; chamber-fellow arch. one who shares a room or rooms with another; chamber-lye (obsolete exc. dial.) urine, esp. as formerly used for washing; chambermaid (a) a housemaid, esp. one in a hotel etc. who attends to the bedrooms; (b) a lady's maid; chamber music music for a small group of instruments, particularly fitted for performance in a private room or a small hall; chamber orchestra a small orchestra; chamber organ a positive organ; an organ for domestic use, developed from the positive organ; chamber-pot a receptacle for urine etc., for use in a bedroom or by a young child; chamber-tomb Archaeology a chambered tomb.
b. verb.
I. verb trans.
Place or shut (up) in or as in a chamber; fig. (arch.) restrain (one's words etc.). LME.
Provide with a chamber or chambers; form into a chamber or chambers. E17.
Hold in or as in a chamber. M19.
II. verb intrans.
Behave wantonly or lewdly. Long arch. E16.
chambered adjective furnished with, formed into, or confined within a chamber or chambers; Archaeology (of a tomb) containing one or more burial chambers: LME.
chamberlet noun a small chamber M19.