chairn.1
/tʃɛː/, U.S. /tʃɛ(ə)r/ 1.
a. A seat for one person (always implying more or less of comfort and ease); now the common name for the movable four-legged seat with a rest for the back, which constitutes, in many forms of rudeness or elegance, an ordinary article of household furniture, and is also used in gardens or wherever it is usual to sit. to take a chair: to take a seat, be seated.
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > seat > chair > [noun]
chair1297
1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (1724) 321 Up a chaere he [sc. Cnut] sat adoun, al vp þe see sonde.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Song of Sol. iii. 9 A chaȝer..of the trees of Liban.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Matt. xxi. 12 He turnyde vpsadoun the bordis and [emended in ed. to of] chaungeris, and the chaiers of men sellynge culueris.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 9954 A tron of iuor graid..Was neuer yeitt king ne kaiser, þat euer sait in sli chaier [Gött. chayer, Trin. Cambr. chaiere, Fairf. cheiere].
c1400 Mandeville's Trav. xxiii. 253 Men setten him in a Chayere.
c1450 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 723 Hec cathedra, a chare.
a1500 (?c1450) Merlin xxi. 362 He sholde do sette ther a cheyer, that..sholde be redy for the knyght in-to sitte.
1535 D. Lindsay Satyre 1941 Heir sall the Carle clim vp and sit in the Kings tchyre.
1535 D. Lindsay Satyre 1953 I sall sit heir, into this tcheir.
1553 R. Eden tr. S. Münster Treat. Newe India sig. Mij Tables, coberdes, cofers, and chayres.
1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde i. v. f. 26v Thynges necessary to bee vsed, as cheyars.
1564 N. Haward tr. Eutropius Briefe Chron. iv. sig. G.viiv In a chaire fast besides him.
a1616 W. Shakespeare All's Well that ends Well (1623) ii. ii. 16 Like a Barbers chaire that fits all buttockes. View more context for this quotation
1704 R. Steele Lying Lover ii. 24 Set Chairs, and the Bohee Tea, and leave us.
1751 S. Johnson Rambler No. 141. ⁋10 Mistaking a lady's lap for my own chair.
1753 Scots Mag. 15 36/2 She..desired me to take a chair.
1840 F. Marryat Poor Jack xlvi. 328 Take a chair.
1870 E. C. Gaskell Cranford viii. 116 The chairs were all a-row against the walls.
b. With various substantives or adjectives indicating the nature, material, purpose, etc., as bed-chair, bedroom chair, camp chair, cane chair, compass chair, folding chair, garden chair, hall chair, kitchen chair, leather chair, library chair, lobby chair, obstetrical chair, office chair, rocking chair, swinging chair, Turkey chair, wheelchair. Also armchair n., Bath-chair n. at Bath n.2 Compounds 3, curule chair n. at curule adj. 1, easy chair n., elbow-chair n., great chair n. at great adj., n., adv., and int. Compounds 1e.
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1574 J. Baret Aluearie C 286 A compasse chayre, halfe a circle. Hemicyclus.
1711 R. Steele Spectator 52 ⁋3 An easy chair..at the upper End of the Table.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 72. ¶4 The great Elbow-chair which stands at the upper End of the Table.
1737 J. Ozell tr. F. Rabelais Wks. V. 220 Easy Leather-Chairs made..with..Springs.
1790 J. C. Smyth in Med. Communications 2 477 I..found him..sitting in a great chair.
1796 H. Hunter tr. J.-H. B. de Saint-Pierre Stud. Nature (1799) III. 539 Having requested the indulgence of an easy chair at the sittings of the French Academy..the King, instead of one easy chair, sent forty to the Academy.
1830 J. Galt Lawrie Todd II. iv. i. 12 He sat in the swinging chair.
1841 W. M. Thackeray Second Funeral Napoleon iii A servant passes, pushing through the crowd a shabby wheel-chair.
c. A glass-blower's seat furnished with long arms upon which he rolls the pontil; hence, the gang of men consisting of the glass-blower and his assistants.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > glass-making equipment > [noun] > other equipment
ladle1483
frache1662
paddle1662
strocals1662
basin1728
setting-board1825
cuvette1832
sabre1832
fly-frame1835
chair1845
snapdragon1869
sand-blast1871
parallelometer1887
chevalet1890
harbour1891
hearth1898
frigger1923
drawbar1926
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > producer > glass-maker > [noun] > team
shop1889
chair1902
1845 G. Dodd Brit. Manuf. 4th Ser. 51 Another workman receives it and sits down in a chair having two flat parallel arms sloping downwards.
1890 W. J. Gordon Foundry 137 Every two crucibles supply one ‘chair’. The glassworker's chair is practically his lathe.
1897 Worc. County Express 3 Apr. There were ten chairs at the works, each occupied by a glassmaker, servitor, and footmaker.
1902 B'ham Daily Post 2 Apr. Eighty is the limit number of strawstem wineglasses to be made in six hours by a ‘chair’, which consists of three men and a boy.
1962 Gloss. Terms Glass Ind. (B.S.I.) 23 Chair, a special long-armed chair in which the craftsman sits when shaping glass.
1962 Gloss. Terms Glass Ind. (B.S.I.) 45 Chair, a team or gang of workers producing blown or pressed glassware by hand.
d. = electric chair n. at electric adj. and n. Compounds 1b. U.S.
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society > authority > punishment > capital punishment > [noun] > electrocution > electric chair
electrical chair1756
electric chair1880
death chair1883
chair1900
hot seat1925
hot chair1927
hot squat1928
1900 ‘J. Flynt’ & ‘F. Walton’ Powers that Prey 170 He was a copper, and we fly cops have got to send some bloke to the chair for blastin' him.
1917 J. Farnol Definite Object xviii. 173 I've left papers—proofs, 'n' it'ud be the chair for yours—savvy?
1926 G. D. H. Cole & M. Cole Blatchington Tangle xiv. 102 The discovery of the murderer's handkerchief..was the means of bringing a most notorious criminal to the chair.
2. figurative.
a. Seat.
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the world > existence and causation > existence > intrinsicality or inherence > [noun] > a property, quality, or attribute > residence or seat of a power or quality
seat1390
chair1509
residence1642
1509 S. Hawes Pastime of Pleasure xvi. xxxv Yf ye wyll tell me where your herte is set. In the chayre of sorowe no great doubt it is.
1557 W. Baldwin & T. Palfreyman Treat. Morall Philos. (new ed.) iv. i. f. 103v Our soules sitteth in a sure chaire of a certaine expectacion.
1597 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie v. lxv. 160 Imagination the onely storehouse of wit, and peculiar chaire of memorie.
1738 J. Wesley Coll. Psalms & Hymns (new ed.) i. 1 The Persecutor's Guilt to share Oppressive in the Scorner's Chair.
b. As an attribute of old age, when rest is the natural condition.
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a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 1 (1623) iii. v. 11 Breake a Launce, and runne a-Tilt at Death, Within a Chayre . View more context for this quotation
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 1 (1623) iv. v. 5 When saplesse Age, and weake vnable limbes Should bring thy Father to his drooping Chaire . View more context for this quotation
3.
a. A seat of authority, state, or dignity; a throne, bench, judgement-seat, etc.
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society > authority > office > symbol of office or authority > [noun] > seat of office or authority
seldc825
stoolc897
high settlec950
seatc1175
benchc1330
stool1390
chair1393
stall1399
estatea1475
chair of state1498
statea1500
office chaira1715
a1400 [see sense 1a].
1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis III. iv. 125 Ianus with double face In his chare hath take his place.c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness (1920) l. 1218 Nabigo-de-nozar noble in his chayer.c1440 Gesta Romanorum (Add. MS.) 400 Sette hym in the Chayere as domysman.1602 2nd Pt. Returne from Pernassus (Arb.) ii. i. 21 O how it greeues my vexed soule to see, Each painted asse in chayre of dignitie.1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost i. 764 At the Soldans chair Defi'd the best of Panim chivalry. View more context for this quotation1757 T. Gray Ode II ii. iii, in Odes 17 Close by the regal chair Fell Thirst and Famine scowl.1879 G. F. Maclear Celts ix. 146 Holdelm..was chosen by him as the seat of his episcopal chair. b. figurative. Place or situation of authority, etc.
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society > authority > office > [noun]
wikec1000
officec1300
bishopricc1384
chairc1384
officeship?a1425
whilec1449
roomc1500
place1558
stallership1868
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Matt. xxiii. 2 Vpon the chaier of Moyses, scribis and Pharisees seeten.
c1400 Rom. Rose 6891 ‘Uppon the chaire of Moyses’..That is the olde testament.
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue i. xii. sig. Eivv Euery man maie not syt in the chayre.
1692 J. Washington tr. J. Milton Def. People Eng. iii. 66 He and Tiberius got into the Chair by the Tricks and Artifices of their Mothers.
1859 Ld. Tennyson Enid in Idylls of King 95 He rooted out the slothful officer.., And in their chairs set up a stronger race.
c. A chair occupied by a Welsh bard at an Eisteddfod, esp. one awarded as a trophy; also, a convention, now each of the four conventions, connected with the Welsh Eisteddfod.
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society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > poet > poet by period > [noun] > bard > winner of Eisteddfod competition > chair
chair1820
society > leisure > social event > large or public event > [noun] > cultural > meeting concerned with Eisteddfod
Gorsedd1794
chair1877
1820 Cambro-Briton I. 36 He was placed, by the general voice, in the bardic chair, and invested with a blue ribbon.
1874 Cassell's Mag. 9 431/1 The grand event of the whole Eisteddfod..—the giving of the Chair Prize.
1877 Encycl. Brit. VII. 791/1 The chair was a kind of convention where disciples were trained, and bardic matters discussed preparatory to the great Gorsedd... There are now existing four chairs in Wales.
1909 T. R. Roberts Eisteddfod 27 The earliest Eisteddfodau, or ‘Chairs’ as they were then called,..were held under the patronage of the Princes of Wales at the beginning of the sixth century.
1909 T. R. Roberts Eisteddfod 36 The Gwyneddigion offered a silver chair to the bard who could write the best verses.
4. † b. = see n.1 Obsolete.
a. The seat of a bishop in his church; hence figurative episcopal dignity or authority. Obsolete or archaic.
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society > faith > artefacts > furniture > seat > [noun] > bishop's
seec1300
thronec1390
chair1480
faldistory1675
exedra1725
cathedra1829
society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > clerical superior > bishop > [noun] > office of
bishopdoma887
bishophoodc1000
bisprichea1300
thronec1390
mitrea1393
seea1393
bishopric1394
pontificality?a1425
chair1480
bishopry1535
episcopality1636
episcopate1641
episcopacy1685
lawna1732
cathedra1863
1480 W. Caxton Chron. Eng. xl. 28 Seynt peter preched in antyoche and ther he made a noble chirche in whiche he sate fyrste in his chaier.
1591 Troublesome Raigne Iohn ii. sig. E3 Treads downe the Strumpets pride, That sits vpon the chaire of Babylon.
1642 Bp. J. Taylor Of Sacred Order Episcopacy (1647) 337 S. Peter would have advanc'd him to the Honour and power of the Bishops chaire.
1674 D. Brevint Saul & Samuel 15 His first Chair, namely that of Antioch.
a1797 E. Burke Ess. Abridgm. Eng. Hist. (rev. ed.) in Wks. (1812) V. 655 Henry..took measures not only to humble Becket, but also to lower that chair [of Canterbury].
1870 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest (ed. 2) I. v. 290 Ealdhun now moved his chair..to a site nobler than that occupied by any other minster in England.
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society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > clerical superior > bishop > [noun] > see of
bishopricc890
shirec893
richeOE
bishopstoolc1065
siege1297
bishop-see1330
diocesec1330
seata1387
see?a1400
eveschiec1475
bishopwick1570
chair1615
parish1709
episcopate1807
1615 G. Sandys Relation of Journey 3 It is the chaire of an Archbishop; inhabited for the most by Grecians.
1642 [see sense 4a]. ΘΚΠ
society > faith > artefacts > furniture > lectern or pulpit > [noun]
lecternc1325
pulpitc1390
desk1449
stage1483
anabathur1623
oratorio1631
ambo1641
tub1644
chair1649
anabathrum1658
minbar1682
ambon1683
hand board1734
rostrum1755
tub-pulpita1791
lutrin1837
prayer desk1843
wood1854
praying desk1906
1649 J. Milton Tenure of Kings 41 A..charge, not performd by mounting twise into the chair with a formal preachment.
1873 R. Browning Red Cotton Night-cap Country ii. 85 Whether he preach in chair, or print in book.
6.
a. The seat from which a professor or other authorized teacher delivers his lectures.
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society > education > place of education > educational buildings > [noun] > college or university buildings > professor's seat
chairc1449
c1449 R. Pecock Repressor (1860) 518 To be rad..in the chaier of scolis.
1691 A. Wood Athenæ Oxonienses II. 506 His prudent presiding in the Professors chair.
1693 J. Norris Pract. Disc. Divine Subj. III. 316 Our Saviour..should have taken the Chair, and have given the Inquisitive World a clear Determination concerning this great Question.
a1711 T. Ken Hymnotheo i, in Wks. (1721) III. 14 Give that small Insect you contemn, The Chair in Porch or Academ.
1876 J. R. Green Short Hist. Eng. People iii. §4. 129 English scholars gathered in thousands round the chairs of William of Champeaux or Abelard.
b. Hence: The office or position of a professor.
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society > education > teaching > teacher > university or college teacher > [noun] > professor > position of
profession1579
professorship1631
university chair1711
chair1816
professorate1831
professoriat1856
professoriate1862
1816 W. Scott Antiquary III. ii. 39 Fighting his way to a chair of rhetoric.
1856 R. W. Emerson Eng. Traits xii. 210 Many chairs and many fellowships are made beds of ease.
1875 M. Arnold Ess. Crit. (ed. 3) Pref. p. x (note) The author had still the Chair of Poetry at Oxford.
7. A seat of judicial inquiry; a tribunal.
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society > law > administration of justice > judicial body, assembly, or court > place where court is held > [noun] > seat of judgement
doom-settlec1000
doom-stoola1250
benchc1300
bink?a1400
bankc1450
judgement seat1526
tribunala1530
justice seat1548
pew1558
chair1629
cushion1656
banc1689
1629 King Charles I in H. Cox Instit. (1863) i. ix. 158 Now there are so many chairs erected, to make inquiry upon all sorts of men.
1645 J. Milton Colasterion 5 For a Licencer is not contented now to give his single Imprimatur, but brings his chair into the Title leaf; there sits and judges up or judges down what book hee pleases.
8. The seat, and hence the office, of the chief magistrate of a corporate town; mayorship. past, above, or below the chair (of aldermen of the City of London): having served or not served as Lord Mayor.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > office > holder of office > magistrate > municipal magistrate > [noun] > chief magistrate or mayor > position of
mayoralty1387
portreeveship1467
mayorship1476
mayorhood1556
mayordom1566
mayoraltyship1582
chair1682
Lord Mayoralty1763
1682 Modest Enq. Election Sheriffs London 26 Some people..did so industriously stickle for Sir John Moor's Election to the Chair.
1714 London Gaz. No. 5261/4 The Aldermen below the Chair on Horseback in Scarlet Gowns.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. at Chain A Gold Chain is one of the Ornaments or Badges of the Dignity of a Lord-Mayor of London; and remains to the Person, after his being divested of that Magistrature, as a Mark he has pass'd the Chair.
1766 J. Entick Surv. London in New Hist. London IV. 263 The judges are the lord-mayor, the aldermen past the chair, and the recorder.
1885 Whitaker's Almanack 251 All the above have passed the Civic Chair.
9.
a. The seat occupied by the person presiding at a meeting, from whence he directs its business; hence, the office or dignity of chairman of a meeting, or of the Speaker of the House of Commons.In various phrases, as to take the chair, to assume the position of chairman, which in most cases formally opens a meeting; to put in the chair, to elect as chairman; in the chair, acting as chairman; to leave or vacate the chair, to cease acting as chairman, which marks the close of a meeting.
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society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > [noun] > president or chairperson of > office of
presidence1606
presidency1608
prolocutorshipa1650
Speakership1653
chair1659
presidentship1711
chairpersonship1982
society > authority > control > person in control > [noun] > one who presides > over a body of persons or their meetings > chairperson > position or chair of
chair1659
chairpersonship1982
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > governing or legislative body of a nation or community > English or British parliament > [noun] > Member of Parliament > speaker of Commons > office of
chair1659
1659 T. Burton Diary (1828) IV. 462 I move that your Speaker forbear the Chair.
1702 Clarendon's Hist. Rebellion I. iv. 233 The Committee of the Commons appointed Mr Pym to sit in the Chair.
1785 G. Crabbe News-paper 11 Here comes the neighbouring Squire, with gracious air, To stamp opinions, and to take the chair.
1806 Med. & Physical Jrnl. 15 536 That the thanks of this meeting be given to Dr. Brandreth, for his cool and patient attention and conduct in the Chair.
1807 G. Crabbe Newspaper (rev. ed.) in Poems 174 Pleas'd to guide His little Club and in the Chair preside.
1848 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. i John Hampden..was put into the chair.
b. Often put for the occupant of the chair, the chairman, as invested with its dignity (as the throne is for the sovereign), e.g. in the cry Chair! Chair! when the authority of the chairman is appealed to, or not duly regarded; to address the chair, support the chair, etc. Now also used as a gender-neutral alternative to ‘chairman’ or ‘chairwoman’.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > [noun] > president or chairperson of
presidenta1382
prolocutor1570
moderator1573
spokesman1607
committee chair1643
chairman1654
referendary1655
speaker1656
chair1659
convener1681
chairperson1971
society > authority > control > person in control > [noun] > one who presides > over a body of persons or their meetings > chairman
chairman1654
chair1659
society > authority > control > person in control > [noun] > one who presides > over a body of persons or their meetings > chairperson
chairperson1971
chair1976
1659 T. Burton Diary 23 Mar. (1828) IV. 243 The Chair behaves himself like a Busby amongst so many school-boys..and takes a little too much on him.
1676–7 N. Grew Solution of Salts i. §1 (Read bef. Royal Soc.) It was referred to Me by this Honourable Chair, to examine and produce the Experiment.
1836 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers (1837) i. 4 Cries of ‘Order,’ ‘Chair,’ ‘Yes,’ ‘No,’ ‘Go on.’
1860 All Year Round 10 Mar. 475 An amiable discussion between the ‘chair’ and an..obstinate person at the other end of the room.
1887 Times 5 Sept. 9/2 It can hardly be conceived that the Chair would fail to gain the support of the House.
1976 C. Miller & K. Swift Words & Women (1977) v. 76 Seventeen members of the university's Department of Linguistics, including the department's distinguished chair, Calvert Watkins, had written a letter to the Crimson on the subject of the students' action.
1982 J. A. Sharwood in Occas. Papers Univ. Sydney Austral. Lang. Res. Centre xx. 29 The chairman of directors of each packing company is called the chair.
1984 New Yorker 13 Aug. 37/1 Martha Layne Collins..is to serve as chair of the Convention.
1986 Tribune 12 Sept. 7/1 She has annoyed the Black Sections by refusing to resign as chair of the party black advisory committee.
c. plural. The chairman and deputy chairman of the East India Company.
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society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > non-manual worker > businessman > [noun] > chairperson or manager > and deputy
chairs1772
1772 E. Burke Corr. (1844) I. 344 This seems to be the scheme most approved by the chairs.
1845 H. H. Wilson Hist. Brit. India 1805–35 I. viii. 499 Letter from the Chairs to the Right Honourable Robert Dundas, 16th December, 1808.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > conveyance carried by person or animal > [noun] > carrying-chair > sedan chair
bearing-chair1352
seat1588
sedge1615
chair1634
man-litter1640
sedan1640
chair-volant1667
street-chaira1712
sedan chair1750
stick chair1800
tonjonc1804
jampan1828
1634 S. Duncombe Patent for setting up Sedans in Pegge Curial. Misc. 290 In many parts beyond the seas the people there are much carried in the streets in chairs that are covered.
1647 R. Stapleton tr. Juvenal Sixteen Satyrs 12 Using close chayres or sedans.
1688 T. Shadwell Squire of Alsatia ii. i. 18 Thy Mask will cover all: There is a Chair below in the Entry to carry thee.
1722 R. Steele Conscious Lovers i. ii Call a Chair!
1726 J. Swift Cadenus & Vanessa 13 She..lock'd three Footmen to her Chair.
1752 S. Johnson Rambler No. 195. ⁋6 At the proper time a chair was called.
1781 R. B. Sheridan Trip to Scarborough ii. i Help the gentleman into a chair, and carry him to my house.
1808 J. Mayne Siller Gun (new ed.) iv. 98 The belle and beau, In chairs and chariots, stop the way.
11. A light vehicle drawn by one horse; a chaise; also a particular kind of light chaise (see quot. 1795). Also attributive.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > cart, carriage, or wagon > carriage for conveying persons > [noun] > types of carriage > light carriage
wheelbarrow1631
chaise1701
chair1753
kittereen1831
roadster1892
1753 Scots Mag. 15 31/2 The profits..have enabled me to set up a one-horse chair.
1761 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy III. xxiv. 124 There is not a greater difference between a single-horse chair and madam Pompadour's vis a vis.
1795 W. Felton Treat. Carriages II. (Gloss.) 215 Chair, a light chaise without pannels, for the use of parks, gardens, &c. commonly applied to all light chaises.
1821 W. Combe Third Tour Dr. Syntax xxxiv. 22 As I please to take the air Command the ponies to a chair.
1909 R. W. Chambers Firing Line ix They went together in a double chair, spinning noiselessly over the shell road.
1909 R. W. Chambers Firing Line xiv Their black chair-boy lay asleep under a thicket of Spanish bayonet.
12. Railways. †(a) The support or carriage of a rail (cf. carriage n. 9c). Obsolete. (b) An iron or steel socket with a deep notch, into which the rail is fixed, and by which it is secured to the sleeper or cross-tie.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > rail travel > railway system or organization > [noun] > track > parts and fittings of rails
string-piece1789
carriage1816
chair1816
pedestal1816
surface plate1822
web1835
frog1837
switch-bar1837
snake-head1845
fish1847
fish-joint1849
plate nail1849
fishing-key1852
fish-plate1855
joint-chair1856
rail chair1864
railhead1868
lead1871
fish-bar1872
splice-piece1875
fish-plating1881
splice-jointa1884
splice-bar1894
1816 W. Losh & G. Stephenson Specif. Patent 4067 2 To fix both the ends of the rails..immoveable in or upon the chairs or props by which they are supported.
1836 G. Head Home Tour 204 Each of these sleepers being a heavy block of stone, having a small cradle of iron, or chair as it is called, rivetted on the top for the purpose of supporting the rails.
1862 S. Smiles Lives Engineers III. 131 The flat base of the chair upon which the rails rested being tilted.
13. Mineralogy. (See quot. 1802.)
ΚΠ
1802 J. Mawe Mineral. of Derbyshire Gloss. Chair, used in drawing up ore or coal.
14. Phrase. to put in the chair. (slang.)
ΚΠ
1864 Social Sci. Rev. 1 408 Some hirers [i.e. drivers of cabs]..boast of the number of owners whom they have ‘put in the chair’ or in polite English neglected to pay.
Compounds
C1. General attributive. Also chairman n., etc.
a.
chair-attendant n.
ΚΠ
a1953 D. Thomas Quite Early One Morning (1954) 33 The clip of the chair-attendant's puncher.
chair-back n.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > covers or hangings > [noun] > cover for furniture > for seat
banker?c1350
dosser1379
doss1475
dorsea1524
dossal1658
tidy1850
antimacassar1852
chair-back1858
sofa-back1878
1858 A. Trollope Dr. Thorne III. xxxv. 89 I should like to work it into a chair-back instead of floss-silk.
1883 C. Schreiber Jrnl. (1911) II. 405 I did some work, cutting up some lengths of Turkish embroidery into chair backs.
chair-bearer n.
ΚΠ
1647 R. Stapleton tr. Juvenal Sixteen Satyrs 110 Chair-bearers or Sedan~men.
chair-bottoming n.
ΚΠ
1887 Cent. Mag. Oct. 858/2 Broom-making, chair-bottoming, and the cobbling of shoes.
chair-caner n.
ΚΠ
1868 Times 27 Feb. Described as a chair-caner.
chair-caning n.
ΚΠ
1906 Daily Chron. 9 Mar. 8/5 Umbrella-mending, chair-caning..are..genteel occupations to be pursued by the caravan ‘smart set’.
chair-cover n.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > covers or hangings > [noun] > cover for furniture > for chair
namad1753
chair-cover1824
1824 M. R. Mitford Our Village (1863) I. 227 The ornaments, the reticules, bell-ropes, ottomans, and chair-covers.
chair-factory n.
ΚΠ
1827 B. Drake & E. D. Mansfield Cincinnati in 1826 viii. 65 Six Chair Factories, 38 hands.
1903 Daily Chron. 10 Mar. 10/4 Foreman required for large chair factory.
chair-hire n.
ΚΠ
1762 O. Goldsmith Life R. Nash 10 Who spend more in chair hire, than housekeeping.
chair-leg n.
chair-maker n.
ΚΠ
1813 Examiner 15 Feb. 102/1 J. Finlayson,..chair-maker.
chair-mare n.
ΚΠ
1799 J. Austen Let. 19 June (1995) 47 Price sixty Guineas, of which the Chair Mare was taken as fifteen.
chair-mending n.
ΚΠ
1694 London Gaz. No. 2955/4 Following the Trade of Chairmending in the Streets.
chair-room n.
ΚΠ
1664 S. Pepys Diary 15 July (1971) IV. 209 There comes out of the Chayre roome Mrs. Steward.
chair-saddle n.
ΚΠ
1865 Pall Mall Gaz. 11 Apr. 11 A lady on a donkey in one of those chair-saddles which supply the place of side-saddles in the south of Spain.
chair-slumber n.
b.
chair-ridden adj.
ΚΠ
1885 Pall Mall Gaz. 28 May 4 [There] sat the mother..chair-ridden by sciatica.
chair-shaking adj.
ΚΠ
1819 L. Hunt Indicator No. 1 Chair-shaking merriment.
C2. † chair-boll n. Obsolete a chair-back. † chair-volant n. Obsolete sedan-chair.
chair-back n. (a) the back of a chair; (b) an anti-macassar.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > seat > chair > [noun] > parts of chairs > back
chair-bow1483
chair-boll1556
stay1560
back1670
chair-back1747
1747 H. Glasse Art of Cookery xxii. 166 Hang the rest of your Bedding on the Chair-backs.
chair balance n. a weighing machine having a seat suspended from the spring balance.
ΚΠ
1884 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Suppl. Chair Balance.
chair-bard n. [Welsh cadair fardd] the successful competitor in the bardic competition held on ‘chair day’ of the Welsh National Eisteddfod.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > poet > poet by period > [noun] > bard > winner of Eisteddfod competition
chair-bard1874
1874 Cassell's Mag. 9 431/1 The successful competitor will be installed as the Chair Bard.
1895 Daily News 20 May 5/3 The chair-bard for this year of the Welsh National Eisteddfod.
chair-bed n.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > bed > types of bed > [noun] > folding bed for camp or travelling > sofa-bed or chair-bed
settee-bed1769
chair-bed1805
sofa-bed1805
sofa-bedstead1833
put-you-up1924
bed-settee1933
Knole sofa1942
Winnipeg couch1954
sleeper1973
1805 Times 7 Nov. 1/2 (advt.) Sofa Beds, Chair Beds, and Tables.
1912 C. Mackenzie Carnival xxiii. 235 Mr. Dale was generally comatose on a flock-exuding chair-bed in what was known as ‘dad's room’.
chair-bedstead n. a kind of chair which can be unfolded into a bed.
chair binder n. (see quot. 1921).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > producer > maker of furniture or furnishings > [noun] > worker involved in chair-making
bottomer1723
chair binder?1881
chair frame maker1897
chair-framer1921
chair matter1921
chair rusher1921
chair seater1921
?1881 Census Eng. & Wales: Instr. Clerks classifying Occupations & Ages (?1885) 53 Chair..Binder.
1921 Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) §504 Chair binder, tacks hessian or other stuffing cover over padding of back and seat of chair and over webbing under seat.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > seat > chair > [noun] > parts of chairs > back
chair-bow1483
chair-boll1556
stay1560
back1670
chair-back1747
1556 J. Heywood Spider & Flie lxxxiv. 20 Vpon the cheyreboll hard beating his fist.
chair-borne adj. Military ironically descriptive of troops whose duties are administrative; cf. airborne adj.; also absol.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > armed forces > the Army > branch of army > [adjective] > non-combatant
chair-borne1943
1943 C. H. Ward-Jackson It's a Piece of Cake 21 Chair-borne division, manned by uniformed personnel who labour in offices.
1947 N. Balchin Lord, I was Afraid 166 The old sneer of the airborne at the chair~borne.
1954 J. Masters Bhowani Junction 171 For Christ's sake, wake up, you chairborne bastard.
chair-bow n. Obsolete = chair-boll n.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > seat > chair > [noun] > parts of chairs > back
chair-bow1483
chair-boll1556
stay1560
back1670
chair-back1747
1483 Cath. Angl. 57 A chare bowe, fultrum.
chair-car n. originally U.S. a railway carriage furnished with chairs (two on each side of the aisle) instead of the usual seats; also, a parlour car (see parlour n. and adj. Compounds 1).
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > rail travel > rolling stock > [noun] > railway wagon or carriage > carriage designed to carry passengers > other types of passenger carriage
caravan1821
private car1826
Jim Crow car1835
ladies' car1841
saloon car or carriage1842
palace car1844
ladies' carriage1847
parliamentary carriage1849
parlour car1859
composite carriage1868
Pullman1869
observation car1872
first1873
compo1878
bogie carriage1880
chair-car1880
club car1893
corridor carriage1893
tourist-car1895
birdcage1900
dog box1905
corridor coach1911
vista-dome1945
Stolypin1970
1880 G. A. Sala Amer. Revisited 166/2 The Pullman Parlor car—commonly termed a ‘chair’ car.
1901 Westm. Gaz. 11 July 6/1 A fire..partially destroyed a dining car and a chair-car.
1909 ‘O. Henry’ Options (1916) 210 My chair-car was profitably well filled with people of the kind one usually sees on chair-cars.
1969 National Herald (New Delhi) 29 July 4/4 The average number of air-conditioned chair car seats occupied per trip was 290.
chair-carver n. (see quot.).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > producer > maker of furniture or furnishings > [noun] > carver (of furniture)
chair-carver1858
1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products Chair-carver, one employed in carving the upright posts and other parts of beds, arm-chairs, sofas, &c.
1921 Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) § 485 Chair-carver.
chair day n. the chief day of the Welsh National Eisteddfod (see quot.).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > social event > large or public event > [noun] > cultural > chief day of Eisteddfod
chair day1877
society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > poet > poet by period > [noun] > bard > winner of Eisteddfod competition > chair > day of investiture
chair day1877
1877 Encycl. Brit. VII. 792/1 The great day of the Eisteddfod is the ‘chair’ day— usually the third or last day—the grand event of the Eisteddfod being the adjudication on the chair subject and the chairing and investiture of the fortunate winner.
chair-days n. old age, when rest in a chair is the most natural condition.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > age > old age > [noun]
eld971
old agec1330
agec1380
last agea1382
oldc1385
aldereldea1400
winterc1425
vilessec1430
annosityc1450
senectute1481
the black ox1546
golden years1559
years1561
great1587
afterlife1589
setting sun1597
antiquity1600
chair-daysa1616
the vale of yearsa1616
grandevity1623
green old age1634
eldship1647
senioritya1688
the other side of the hill1691
the decline of life1711
senectude1756
senility1791
senectitude1796
post-climacteric1826
Anno Domini1885
senium1911
golden age1946
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 2 (1623) v. iii. 48 In thy Reuerence, and thy Chaire-dayes, thus To die in Ruffian battell. View more context for this quotation
1865 Cornhill Mag. July 38 The end of life is the ‘sere of life’..In Yorkshire it is ‘the chair-day’.
chair-door n. (see quot.).
ΚΠ
1906 T. Hardy Dynasts: Pt. 2nd vi. vi. 282 In addition to the grand entrance..there is a covert little ‘chair-door’..for sedans only.
chair drill n. (see quot.)
ΚΠ
1908 Daily Chron. 5 Aug. 3/6 ‘Chair drill’, a novel form of exercise,..brought the programme to an end.
chair frame maker n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > producer > maker of furniture or furnishings > [noun] > worker involved in chair-making
bottomer1723
chair binder?1881
chair frame maker1897
chair-framer1921
chair matter1921
chair rusher1921
chair seater1921
1897 Daily News 9 Mar. 2/6 Chair frame maker.
chair-framer n. (see quots.).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > producer > maker of furniture or furnishings > [noun] > worker involved in chair-making
bottomer1723
chair binder?1881
chair frame maker1897
chair-framer1921
chair matter1921
chair rusher1921
chair seater1921
1921 Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) §473 Chair frame maker, chair framer, assembles parts of chair frames, prepared by woodworking machinist.
chairlady n. originally U.S. = chairwoman n.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > control > person in control > [noun] > one who presides > over a body of persons or their meetings > chairwoman
chairwoman1699
chairlady1925
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > [noun] > president or chairperson of > female
moderatress1601
chairwoman1699
prolocutress1737
moderatrix1753
speakeress1781
chairlady1925
1925 New Republic 16 Sept. 92 In the clothing trades there are union shop chairmen and chairladies who exercise a workers' control that [etc.].
1931 Atlantic City News 7 Aug. 10/4 Mrs. Joseph Foy is chairlady of the card party.
1959 P. Bull I know Face i. 15 A lovely play..which..was written by Miss Bertha Graham, the chairlady of The 1930 Players.
chair-lift n. (see lift n.2).
chair-marking n. slang (see quots. and sense 14); so chair-mark v. and n., chair-marked adj.
ΚΠ
1890 Pall Mall Gaz. 18 Sept. 7/3 Unless these particulars are filled in no cabman can get employment; and it is almost as difficult for him if the licence is ‘chair-marked’. This is done in several ways: one is by writing big; another by writing out the date..a third by using red..ink. ‘Chair-marking’ is generally the result of spite... At Marylebone..a cab proprietor was fined £5 and costs for ‘chair-marking’.
1894 Daily News 23 Oct. 2/6 This he contended was a ‘chair mark’, conveying to other proprietors the information that he had not paid his cab hire up.
1939 H. Hodge Cab, Sir? 218 Certain employers attempted to pass comments about drivers..by writing the date in code... It was called: ‘chairmarking’.
chair matter n. (see quot.).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > producer > maker of furniture or furnishings > [noun] > worker involved in chair-making
bottomer1723
chair binder?1881
chair frame maker1897
chair-framer1921
chair matter1921
chair rusher1921
chair seater1921
1921 Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) §472 Chair matter; chair rusher; chair seater; weaves rushes, by hand, into chair seats or frames.
chair-organ n. (see quots.).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > musical instrument > keyboard instrument > organ > [noun] > partial organ > specific
choir organ1606
chair-organ1636
swelling organ1712
swell1822
pedal organ1829
great1833
solo organ1843
récit1851
1636–7 Royal Warrant in Notes & Queries (1867) 3rd Ser. XI. 11/2 Our Chapell at Hampton Court, and for the making of a newe Chaire Organ there, Conformable to those alreadie made in our Royal Chapells at Whitehall and Greenwiche.
1880 G. Grove Dict. Music Chair organ, a corruption of Choir organ, in use in the last century, not impossibly arising from the fact that in cathedrals the choir organ often formed the back of the organist's seat.
chair-post n. U.S. one of the main uprights of a chair.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > seat > chair > [noun] > parts of chairs > upright
chair-post1788
post1902
1788 Amer. Museum 4 519 The snake was..about the thickness of a common chair-post.
1872 Congress. Globe App. 578/2 They went out and got great big long brushes, as big as these chair posts.
1911 Roxboro (N. Carolina) Courier Nov. The snake was as large around as a chair post.
chair-rail n. (see quot.).
ΚΠ
1876 W. Papworth Gwilt's Encycl. Archit. (rev. ed.) Gloss. 1210 Chair Rail, a piece of wood fastened to the wall, to prevent the backs of the chairs injuring the plastering when placed against it.
chair road n. a railway having the rails fastened by chairs to the sleepers.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > rail travel > railway system or organization > [noun] > a railway > of specific construction
rackway1825
surface road1835
light railway1842
switchback1863
rack railway1879
monorail1884
chair road1895
cog-railway1896
mono-railway1902
cog-wheel system1904
monoline1992
1895 Westm. Gaz. 12 July 2/1 In America the authorities assert that our chair roads are not strong enough to stand their traffic.
chair rusher n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > producer > maker of furniture or furnishings > [noun] > worker involved in chair-making
bottomer1723
chair binder?1881
chair frame maker1897
chair-framer1921
chair matter1921
chair rusher1921
chair seater1921
1921 Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) §472 Chair matter; chair rusher; chair seater; weaves rushes, by hand, into chair seats or frames.
chair seater n. = chair matter n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > producer > maker of furniture or furnishings > [noun] > worker involved in chair-making
bottomer1723
chair binder?1881
chair frame maker1897
chair-framer1921
chair matter1921
chair rusher1921
chair seater1921
1921 Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) §472 Chair matter; chair rusher; chair seater; weaves rushes, by hand, into chair seats or frames.
chair-side n. attributive of or pertaining to dental work performed while the patient is seated in a dentist's chair; also in other uses (see quots.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > dentistry > [adjective] > chair-side
chair-side1950
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > seat > chair > [adjective] > by side of chair
chair-side1950
1950 M. Palyi Compulsory Med. Care 77 [Dentist's] actual chairside work.
1958 Times 12 Sept. 2/7 (advt.) Young assistant required for old-established busy dental practice... Chairside assistance.
1963 J. Osborne Dental Mech. (ed. 5) viii. 100 Both methods..require somewhat more chair-side and laboratory time.
1966 Listener 18 Aug. 238/3 New kinds of trains are being planned..with standards of..service borrowed from the airlines—chairside meals and so forth.
1966 ‘S. Ransome’ Hidden Hour iii. 38 He reached for the extension telephone on the chairside table.
chair-table n. a table convertible into a chair or settle.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > table > [noun] > other tables
dormant tablec1405
set board1512
chair-table1558
oyster table1559
brushing-table1575
stand board1580
table-chair1671
reading table1749
worktable1762
centre table1775
pier table1778
loo-table1789
screen table1793
social table1793
octoped1822
claw-table1832
bench table1838
mould1842
end table1851
pedestal table1858
picnic table1866
examining table1877
silver table1897
changing table1917
rent table1919
capstan table1927
conference table1928
tricoteuse1960
Parsons1962
overflow table1973
butcher's block1976
1558 A. Cranewise in S. Tymms Wills & Inventories Bury St. Edmunds (Camden Soc., 1850) 150 I giue to my sonne Thomas..my round chaire table in the parlour.
1891 I. W. Lyon Colonial Furnit. New Eng. 197 A chair table is mentioned in the inventory of John Copse, of Watertown, Mass., made in 1644.
1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl. Table-chair... Also chair-table.
chair turner n. a wood turner who specializes in chair legs, rails, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > workers with specific materials > woodworker > [noun] > turner
thrower1242
turner1415
head-turner1853
chair turner1904
1904 Daily Chron. 5 Jan. 2/7 He was a chair turner by trade.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > conveyance carried by person or animal > [noun] > carrying-chair > sedan chair
bearing-chair1352
seat1588
sedge1615
chair1634
man-litter1640
sedan1640
chair-volant1667
street-chaira1712
sedan chair1750
stick chair1800
tonjonc1804
jampan1828
1667 Second Advice in Second & Third Advice to Painter 6 Rupert that knew not fear, but health did want, Kept state suspended in his Chair volant.
chair-warmer n. slang Originally Theatre (see quot. 1909); hence gen. a ‘passenger’ in any enterprise or situation.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > inaction > not doing > [noun] > one who takes no part in action > one who contributes no effort
passenger1852
chair-warmer1909
deadhead1942
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > performer > [noun] > types of performer
pantomimus1589
amateur1757
figure1767
feature1801
débutant1824
warhorse1836
moke1890
trouper1890
chair-warmer1909
act1919
single1923
single act1952
warm-up man1959
warmer-up1960
1909 J. R. Ware Passing Eng. Victorian Era 69/1 A ‘chair-warmer’ is a lady whose talent is comprised in her physical charms, and who can neither sing, dance, nor act.
1926 J. Black You can't Win viii. 101 The judge frowned at me. The courtroom chair warmers craned necks in my direction.
1957 K. A. Wittfogel Oriental Despotism 306 Bureaucratic chair-warmers can be annoying and harmful.
Draft additions September 2008
Skiing. A chairlift; (also) a seat on a chairlift. Frequently with modifying word or phrase indicating the number of passengers each seat is capable of carrying (cf. quad adj.1 2).
ΚΠ
1949 N.Y. Times 20 Dec. 41/7 The world's largest ski lift, the 8,200 foot double chair project at..Squaw Valley.
1951 Chicago Sunday Tribune 9 Dec. vi. 19/1 It [sc. the chairlift] has been rebuilt with double chairs replacing the single seaters.
1989 St. Petersburg (Florida) Times (Nexis) 12 Nov. (Travel section) 1 e Sun Valley now is served by 15 modern chairs, including a trio of high-speed, detachable quads (four-person chairs).
1992 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 16 Dec. d1/4 The hills today are serviced by double and triple chairs and a T-bar lift.
2005 A. R. Smith Ski Instructors Confidential 100 Their chair was approaching the unloading point.
Draft additions March 2012
Chemistry and Biochemistry. A conformation of a non-planar six-membered ring in an organic molecule (in the simplest form, cyclohexane) in which two atoms at opposite positions in the ring are offset on opposite sides of the plane formed by the other four atoms. Frequently attributive, as chair conformation, chair form, etc. Contrasted with boat.
ΚΠ
1925 Jrnl. Soc. Chem. Industry 44 606/1 Sachse's two strain-free configurations of cyclohexane... If Mohr's postulate held,..the boat form has a strain free motion and the chair form is rigid.
1959 Science 25 Sept. 793/3 A system is presented for designating, with symbols, all chair and boat conformations of all pyranoid sugars and derivatives.
1977 J. March Adv. Org. Chem. (ed. 2) xviii. 1046 3,4-dimethyl-1,5-hexadiene is free to assume either the chair or boat (it prefers the chair), but other compounds are not so free.
2006 J. M. Hornback Org. Chem. (Internat. Student ed.) vi. 196 There are two nonplanar conformations, called the chair conformation and the boat conformation, that are completely free of angle strain.
Draft additions June 2017
chair umpire n. Tennis the umpire seated on a raised chair behind a net post, who is the final authority during a match; cf. linesman n. 3a.
ΚΠ
1921 Amer. Lawn Tennis 15 Jan. 592/2 The players were a bit fussed... Not so the chair umpire.
1975 Guardian 17 May 19/1 Chair-umpires..indicate when they thought that decisions by linemen were open to doubt.
2004 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 1 Feb. viii. 4/3 Henin-Hardenne won that critical eighth game..after chair umpire Sandra De Jenken..overruled a line call on the baseline.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1889; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
† chairn.2
Obsolete or archaic.
A chariot or car.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > cart, carriage, or wagon > carriage for conveying persons > [noun] > types of carriage > chariot
wainc1175
carc1350
chairc1374
chariotc1374
curre1483
wagon1582
c1374 G. Chaucer Anelida & Arcite 39 Emelye..Faire in a chare [Shirley MS. chaier] of golde he with him lad.
a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) II. f. clxxxxix Wt great apparayll of Chayris and other costious ordenaunce for to conueye the forenamed Lady Margarete into Englande.
1520 Chron. Eng. ii. f. 14/1 Helyas..was lyfted up into paradye..in a chayre.
1559 T. Bryce in E. Farr Sel. Poetry Reign Elizabeth (1845) I. 164 When worthy Web and George Roper In Elyes' chayre to heauen were sent.
?1614 W. Drummond Song: Phoebvs arise in Poems Phœbus in his chaire Ensaffraning Sea and Aire.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis x, in tr. Virgil Wks. 522 Niphæus, whom four Coursers drew..They threw their Master headlong from the Chair.
1815 W. Scott Lord of Isles v. xiv. 192 Like a prophet's fiery chair..travelling the realms of air.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1889; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
chairv.
/tʃɛː/, U.S. /tʃɛ(ə)r/ 1.
a. transitive. To place or seat in a chair; esp. to install in a chair of authority.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > seat > chair > provide with chairs [verb (transitive)] > place in chair
chair1552
society > authority > office > appointment to office > appoint a person to an office [verb (transitive)] > admit to office formally or ceremonially > install in chair
chair1761
1552 [see chaired adj. at Derivatives].
1761 Brit. Mag. 2 179 Chairing your speaker for the commons, when he is chosen by the house.
1850 P. Crook War of Hats 52 A Guy Fawkes figure toiletted and chaired.
1876 Ld. Tennyson Harold i. ii. 31 And thou Chair'd in his place.
b. To place in a chair or on a seat, and carry aloft in triumph, as an honour to a favourite, a successful competitor, and formerly often to the successful candidate at a parliamentary election.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > reputation > honour > give honour to [verb (transitive)] > as a victor
chair1761
champion1886
1761 Brit. Mag. 2 179 The practice of chairing the candidate.. still, I find, obtains among you.
1812 Examiner 19 Oct. 670/2 Were declared duly elected, and were chaired through the principal streets.
1812 T. Amyot Some Acct. Life W. Windham I. 86 (note)
1844 B. Disraeli Coningsby II. v. ii. 227 The day the member was chaired.
1857 T. Hughes Tom Brown's School Days ii. viii. 408 [Tom] was chaired round the quadrangle, on one of the hall benches borne aloft by the eleven.
c. To award the chair to (the successful competitor at the Welsh Eisteddfod). Chiefly as participial adj., verbal noun.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > artist > [verb (transitive)] > award chair to successful competitor
chair1876
1876 [see chaired adj. at Derivatives].
1877 [implied in: Encycl. Brit. VII. 792/1 The great day of the Eisteddfod is the ‘chair’ day— usually the third or last day—the grand event of the Eisteddfod being the adjudication on the chair subject and the chairing and investiture of the fortunate winner. (at chair day n. at chair n.1 Compounds 2)].
d. To direct (a meeting, etc.) as chairman; to preside over. Cf. chairman v.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > chair (an assembly) [verb (transitive)]
moderate1577
chairman1888
chair1921
1921 L. S. Hunter J. Hunter vii. 142 He was rarely quite happy and spontaneous at business..meetings. The prospect of having to ‘chair’ one would sometimes distract him from his work throughout the day.
1952 Landfall Mar. 50 He was chairing the first meeting of the congress.
1957 BBC Handbk. 167 Discussions chaired by Edgar Lustgarten.
2. To carry or wheel in a chair.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance in a vehicle > transport or convey in a vehicle [verb (transitive)] > by wheeled vehicle > in a chair
chair1886
1886 J. Pendleton Hist. Derbysh. 99 The bride, owing to her infirmities, had to be chaired to the altar.
3. To provide with a chair or chairs.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > seat > chair > provide with chairs [verb (transitive)]
chair1843
1843 C. Dickens Martin Chuzzlewit (1844) xxvii. 324 The offices were..newly chaired.
1885 [see chairing n. at Derivatives]. Derivatives
chaired adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > office > appointment to office > [adjective] > appointing formally or ceremonially > appointed formally or ceremonially > chaired
chaired1552
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > seat > chair > [adjective] > placed in chair
chaired1552
the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > reputation > honour > [adjective] > honoured as victor
chaired1796
society > authority > office > appointment to office > choosing or fact of being chosen for office > election of representative body by vote > proceedings at election > [adjective] > of successful candidate: placed in chair
chaired1796
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Chayred or stalled, cathedratus.
1796 S. T. Coleridge Ode Departing Year From the chaired gods advancing, The Spirit of the Earth made reverence meet.
1876 Encycl. Brit. V. 318 The chief of song was also called a chaired bard, because he was one of the fourteen entitled to a chair at court.
1880 Daily News 18 Sept. 6/4 It was resolved..that all chaired bards be appointed honorary members.
1890 Pall Mall Gaz. 11 Sept. 6/3 Tudno, the chaired bard at Bangor.
ˈchairing n.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > [noun] > of a house > furnishing > with specific item
benchinga1468
chairing1797
1797 T. Holcroft tr. F. L. Stolberg Trav. II. lxii. 418 (note) The chairing of a Westminster election.
1885 Leisure Hour Jan. 48/2 Seldom is a large building erected..without a visit to Wycombe..with a view to the chairing of it.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1889; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
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