Chair , v. t. [imp. & p. pr. Chaired (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
Chairing.]
1. To place in a chair.
2. To carry publicly in a
chair in triumph. [Eng.]
Chair (?), n. [OE.
chaiere, chaere, OF. chaiere,
chaere, F. chaire pulpit, fr. L. cathedra chair, armchair, a teacher's or
professor's chair, Gr. &?; down + &?; seat, &?; to sit, akin to E. sit. See Sit, and cf. Cathedral,
chaise.]
1.
A movable single seat with a back.
2. An official seat, as of a chief magistrate or a judge, but
esp. that of a
professor; hence, the office itself.
The chair of a philosophical school.
Whewell.
A chair of philology.
M. Arnold.
3.
The presiding officer of an
assembly; a chairman; as, to address the chair.
4. A vehicle for one person; either a sedan borne upon poles, or two-wheeled carriage, drawn by one horse;
a gig. Shak.
Think what an equipage thou hast in
air,
And view with scorn two pages and a chair.
Pope.
5. An iron block
used on railways to support the rails and secure them to the
sleepers.
Chair days, days
of repose and age. -- To put into the chair, to elect as president, or as chairman of a meeting. Macaulay. -- To take the chair, to assume the position of president, or of chairman of a meeting.
Hear it pronounced