▪ I. chamber, n.
(ˈtʃeɪmbə(r))
Forms: 3–5 chaumbre, 3–7 chambre, 4 chaumber, 4– chamber. Also chaumbir, -bur, -byr, chawmbire, chambir, -bere, chanbur, 5 chambyr(e, chawmbyr, chaunber, -bour, -byr, chamer, chawmere, caumbre, 5–6 chambur, 6 chamboure, 7 chambor, camber. Also Sc. 4–5 chamur, chalmir, 4–7 chalmer, 5–6 chawmer, 6 chalmyr, 8 chamer, 8–9 chaumer.
[a. F. chambre (= Pr. cambra, Sp. camara, It. camera):—L. camera, camara, in Gr. καµάρα vaulted chamber; prob. f. Aryan root kam- to curve, bend. The sense underwent progressive generalization in late L. and Romanic.]
I. A room (in a house).
1. a. A room or apartment in a house; usually one appropriated to the use of one person; a private room; in later use esp. a sleeping apartment, a bedroom. (Now, in standard English, confined chiefly to elevated style; in colloq. use replaced by room. Cf. bedchamber.) But in U.S. in more general use; and in some English dialects, = the ‘parlour’ or better room, as distinguished from the kitchen; also a sleeping apartment over a stable or the like.
| a 1300 Floriz & Bl. 443 To anoþer chaumbre hi beoþ agon, To blauncheflures chaumbre non. c 1350 Will. Palerne 3029 Whan þe masse was don, sche went to hire chaumber. 1375 Barbour Bruce v. 287 In a chalmer preualy, He held him and his cumpany. c 1400 Destr. Troy 4977 Led were þo lordes þro mony long chaumburs..into a proude chaumbur þere Priam was set. c 1440 Gesta Rom. 94 (Harl. MS.) A prevy caumbre. 1472 Sir J. Paston in Lett. 706 III. 64 My Lady..hathe takyn hyr chambre. 1513 Douglas æneis viii. viii. 29 Amyd the chalmer doun thaim set. 1535 Coverdale Prov. xxiv. 4 Chambers..fylled with all costly & pleasaunt riches. 1582–8 Hist. Jas. VI (1804) 52 Be comitting of murther in hir awin chalmer. 1611 Bible Gen. xliii. 30 Hee entred into his chamber, & wept there. ― Acts ix. 37 They laid her in an vpper chamber. 1711 Swift Lett. (1767) III. 191 He and his lady saw me to my chamber just in the country fashion. 1731–1800 Bailey s.v. Camera, Such Musick as is designed for Chambers and private Consorts. 1821 Southey in Q. Rev. XXV. 346 He..hardly ever slept two nights successively in one chamber. 1841 Lane Arab. Nts. I. 104 A curtain suspended before the door of a chamber. |
| 1858 M. Porteous Souter Johnny 17 In that apartment generally called the ‘Chamber’ of a farm house. 1863 Atkinson Danby Provinc., Chamber, an upper room, (1) in a house; a bed room. (2) in a stable or other building; a loft. 1883 Harper's Mag. Aug. 437/1 The chambers..were less ample..in the Southern houses. |
b. The reception-room in a palace; called the
presence-chamber, or
audience-chamber.
2. fig.| a 1225 Ancr. R. 92 Heo is Godes chaumbre. a 1400 Cov. Myst. (1841) 115 Farewel, Goddys chawmere and his bowre. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 70 b, He maketh our soules his chambre. 1614 T. Adams Devil's Banquet 31 Malice vsurpes the best Chamber in your mindes. 1715–20 Pope Iliad vii. 498 From forth the chambers of the main..Arose the golden chariot of the day. 1866 B. Taylor Fun. Th. Poems 382 Echo the startled chambers of the soul. |
3. pl. a. Rooms forming part of a house or tenement arranged for occupation by single persons;
esp. rooms in the Inns of Court occupied by lawyers; also, sets of rooms in a block of buildings for offices, etc.
b. The room in which a judge sits to hear causes and transact business not of sufficient importance to be brought into court.
| 1641 Harcourt in Macm. Mag. XLV. 288 Thine of 6 Decr. from Sarjant Glanvieelds chambers, came to my hands. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 145 ¶5, I have Chambers in the Temple. 1790 Boswell Johnson xiii. (ed. Napier) I. 277 He found his old master in Chambers in the Inner Temple. 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) IV. 360 If the defendant is not satisfied, I will send it to be argued before the Lord Chief Baron and Mr. Justice Burnet, at their chambers. a 1834 Lamb Lett. ix. 87 When I last wrote you I was in lodgings. I am now in Chambers. 1844 Dickens Christmas Carol i, He [Scrooge] lived in chambers which had once belonged to his deceased partner. 1849 ― Dav. Copp., Traddles..had chambers in Gray's Inn. Mod. Newspr. Advt., St. James's Park Chambers, for Gentlemen..two rooms communicating, unfurnished. Westminster Chambers, Victoria Street, Westminster, London. |
4. a. A hall appropriated to the meetings of a deliberative, legislative, or judicial body.
| c 1543 in Dom. Archit. III. 79 The parlement chambre & paynted chambre. 1714 Lond. Gaz. No. 5254/2 The Lords..and others..met..in..the Painted Chamber. 1818 Cruise Digest (ed. 2) II. 424 Judgement was..reversed in the Exchequer Chamber. 1839 Thirlwall Greece III. 326 The multitude that surrounded the doors of the council chamber. |
b. A judicial or deliberative assembly or body; a camera. Now
esp. one of the ‘houses’ or divisions of a legislative body, as the French ‘chamber of deputies’; so ‘the upper chamber’, ‘the popular chamber’, phrases applied to the Houses of Lords and Commons respectively.
| [c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. B. 1586 Ho herde hym chyde to þe chambre.] c 1400 Apol. Loll. 12 Þis þat þe pope reseruiþ to himsilf, & to þe chaumbre. 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie i. viii. (Arb.) 32 Frauncis the Frenche king made Sangelais, Salmonius, Macrinus, and Clement Marot of his priuy Chamber. 1680 Lond. Gaz. No. 1508/3 The Chamber of Poysons is now going to take in hand the affair of the Duke of Luxemburgh. 1845 S. Austin Ranke's Hist. Ref. I. 135 The Imperial Chamber..had closed its sittings in June. 1848 W. K. Kelly tr. L. Blanc's Hist. Ten. Y. I. 387 The chambers..attempted to deal with this important problem..The discussion in the chamber of deputies. c 1850 Lytton Misc. Prose Wks. II. 109 (Hoppe) To implicate not individual peers, but the Upper Chamber itself as well as the Throne. 1863 H. Cox Instit. i. vii. 88 The chamber not elected by the people. |
c. Chamber of Commerce: a board organized to protect the interests of commerce in a town or district; so
Chamber of Agriculture, etc.
| 1788 Burns Ep. Creech, The brethren o' the Commerce-Chaumer. 1862 Ansted Channel Isl. iv. xxiv. (ed. 2) 556 There are Chambers of Commerce in both islands. 1870 Emerson Soc. & Solit., Dom. Life Wks. (Bohn) III. 44 Not in senates, or courts, or Chambers of Commerce, but in the dwelling-house must the true character..of the time be consulted. |
d. in
Star-chamber, castle-chamber, etc.
e. chamber of horrors: see
horror n. 5.
5. The place where the funds of a government, corporation, etc. are (or were) kept, and where all moneys due to it are received; chamberlain's office; treasury. [A common sense of
med.L.
camera.]
| 1632 Massinger City Mad. iv. ii, My private house, in crammed abundance, Shall prove the Chamber of the City poor. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. x. iv. §21 We mention not the large sums bequeathed by him [Thos. Sutton] to poor, to prisons, to colleges, to mending highways, to the chamber of London. 1711 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) VI. 695 There was remaining in the chamber of London of the charity mony gathered for them upwards of 2000{pstlg}. 1727–51 Chambers Cycl., The chamberlain of London keeps the city money, which is laid up in the chamber of London, an apartment in Guildhall. 1823 Act 4 Geo. IV, c. 50 §107 (for rebuilding London Bridge). The monies..shall be from time to time paid into the Chamber of the City of London. |
† 6. [
= med.L.
camera, F.
chambre.] A province, city, etc., directly subject, and yielding immediate revenue to the king; more loosely: Capital, metropolis, royal residence; ? royal port or dockyard.
| 1555 Fardle Facions i. iv. 46 Garama, the chiefe citie, and as we terme it, the chambre of the king. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 421 (D.) London..the seat of the British Empire, and the kings of England's chamber. 1631 Weever Anc. Fun. Mon. 608 This his Citie of Maldon, then the chamber of his kingdome. 1644 Howell Engl. Tears Ded., To my Imperial Chamber, the Citie of London. c 1645 ― Lett. (1650) 196 Huge fleets of Men of War..do daily sail on our seas, and confront the Kings chambers. 1699 in Col. Rec. Penn. I. 564 Those places called the king's chambers, where shipps of warr are numerous. |
7. a. The hangings or furniture of a chamber. ?
Obs.| 1612 W. Travers Supplic. Privy Counsel, To unfold this tapestry, and to hang up the whole chamber of it. 1845 Stephen Laws Eng. II. 212 Her apparel and bedroom furniture, (called the widow's chamber) was first set aside for her own use. 1859 Turner Dom. Archit. III. iii. 62 The purchase of a ‘chamber’, a ‘halling’, that is, the necessary hangings for those apartments. |
b. euphem. for
chamber-pot,
q.v.| 1922 Joyce Ulysses 755 Wheres the chamber gone. 1961 F. G. Cassidy Jamaica Talk v. 85 ‘Chamber-pot’ has been abbreviated to Chamber. |
II. An enclosed space, cavity, etc.
8. An enclosed space in the body of an animal or plant; as
e.g. the ventricles of the brain; the anterior and posterior chambers of the eye; the chambers or compartments of a shell, etc.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. iii. ix. (Tollem. MS.), In þe moste subtil chambris of þe brayne [in subtilissimis cerebri ventriculis]. Ibid. v. xxxvi. (1495) 150 In the herte of a beeste..ben two chambres. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VI. 219 The first cavity, or chamber, of the brain, is filled with..spermaceti. 1831 Brewster Optics xxxv. 288 The two parts into which the iris divides the eye are called the anterior and the posterior chambers. 1866 Argyll Reign Law v. (ed. 4) 240 The nectar chambers of long tubular flowers. 1882 Vines Sachs' Bot. 455 Hollow chambers which extend from base to apex. |
9. a. An artificial space, cavity, or room for various purposes; an enclosed space or compartment in a piece of mechanism, etc.
E.g. An underground cavity for holding powder and bombs, called also
powder-chamber,
bomb-chamber; the space enclosed between the gates of a canal lock; the part of a pump in which the plunger or piston works; and in many specific applications in arts and manufactures.
| 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1789), Corps de pompe, the chamber of a pump. 1811 A. T. Thomson Lond. Disp. (1818) 8 Into a chamber lined with sheet lead..water is poured. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 175 The steam is conveyed..into the upper chamber of the upper box. 1837 H. Martineau Soc. Amer. II. 196 Our boat won the race, and we bolted..into the chamber of the first lock. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 74/2 These tubes terminate in a small chamber. |
b. A concave part leaving a hollow space underneath.
attrib. in
open-chamber panel in a saddle, the panel or padded part so stuffed as to allow a current of air to pass between the saddle and the horse's back.
| 1888 Saddler's Price List, Best full shaftoe, suitable for India, with open chamber panel. |
10. † a. A detached charge piece in old ordnance to put into the breech of a gun.
Obs.| 1465 in Paston Lett. 978. III. 436, ij. handgonnes, iiij. chambers for gonnys..Item, a stokke gonne with iij. chambers. 1481–90 Howard Househ. Bks. (1841) 23, ij. lytel broken goonys and three chambers to them. 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. xiv. 66 Chambers is a charge made of brasse or iron, which we use to put in at the britch of a sling or murtherer, conteining just so much powder as will driue away the case of stones or shot. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Murderer, small pieces of ordnance which were loaded by shifting metal chambers placed in the breech. |
† b. Name given in 16–17th c. to a piece of ordnance;
esp. a small piece without a carriage, standing on its breech, used to fire salutes.
Obs. [
Cf. the German
büchse,
orig. the box or chamber of a gun, now the gun itself, and see ]
| 1540 Sc. Ld. Treasurer's Acc. in Pitcairn Crim. Trials I. 306 Doune-taking of xxx Chalmeris of þe Heid of Davidis Towris..with vthir Chalmeris and Munitioune. 1577 Holinshed Chron. III. 1209/1 Robert Thomas, maister gunner of England, desirous..to honour the feast and mariage daie..made three great traines of chambers. 1594 Peele Batt. Alcazar 124 The trumpets sound, the chambers are discharged. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, ii. iv. 57. a 1627 Middleton World Lost Wks. V. 190 Stage direction, Chambers shot off within. 1668 Lond. Gaz. No. 255/3 At his Entry into the Town the great Guns and Chambers were discharged. 1727 Brice's Weekly Jrnl. 13 Oct. 3 Guns and Chambers were fired all Day. |
c. That part of the bore of a gun in which the charge is placed (in many obsolete types of ordnance,
esp. mortars and howitzers, of smaller diameter than the bore, but now a space of larger diameter: see
quot. 1879); in old revolvers, each of the barrels, and in new, each of the compartments of the breeching which contain the charge.
| 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. xiv. 66 In a great Peece we call that her Chamber so far as the powder doth reach when she is laded. 1672 Compl. Gunner in Mil. & Mar. Discipline iii. iv. 5. 1742 Phil. Trans. XLII. 181 That the Change of the Form in the Chamber, will produce a Change of the Distance to which the Bullet is thrown. 1859 F. Griffiths Artil. Man. (1862) 190 The bullet chamber and bore are rifled. The powder chamber is not rifled, but is of a larger diameter than the bullet chamber. 1874 Knight Dict. Mech. I. 446/2 The great bronze gun of Moscow..Bore 36 in. diameter; chamber..19 in. diameter. 1879 Times (weekly ed.) 10 Jan. 14/3 The use of air-space left above and about the charge of powder in a suitable chamber, larger than the bore of the gun, has produced the most astonishing results..The 100-ton Armstrong gun..was not originally chambered..The addition of the chamber..added 6,700 foot-tons..to its striking energy. 1888 Daily News 26 June 10/3 A six-chambered revolver was discovered. It was loaded in five chambers, and one chamber had evidently been recently discharged. |
d. The cavity in a mine for the reception of the powder.
| 1730–6 Bailey Chamber of a Mine. |
III. In
Comb. 11. chamber of dais.
Sc. Also
chamber of deas,
of deese,
chambradeese [Jamieson suggests a F.
*chambre au dais, room with a canopy]. A parlour; also a best bedroom. (
Jam.)
| a 1605 R. Bannatyne Jrnl. 486 (Jam.) Adam causit bier butt the deid corps to the chalmer of davice. 1731 Mem. Capt. Creichton 97 (Jam.) The chamber where he lay was called the Chamber of Deese..a room where the Laird lies when he comes to a Tenant's house. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xxvi, And then my mother's wardrobe, and my grandmother's forby..they are a' in the chamber of deas—Oh, Jeanie, gang up the stair and look at them! 1824 ― Redgauntlet Let. xi, Just opposite the chamber of dais which his master occupied. |
12. attrib. and obvious
comb., as
chamber-ambush,
chamber-bawd,
chamber-bell,
chamber-candle,
chamber-candlestick,
chamber-door,
chamber-groom,
chamber-hanging,
chamber-keeper,
chamber-keeping,
chamber-lamp,
chamber-physic,
chamber-ridden adj. (
cf. bed-ridden),
chamber-robe,
† chamber-room,
chamber-servant,
chamber-sill,
chamber-soot,
chamber-sweeping,
chamber-wall,
chamber-window. Sometimes connoting effeminacy or wantonness, as
chamber-combatant (
cf. carpet-knight),
chamber-critic,
chamber-delight,
† chamber-glew Sc. [see
glee],
chamber-pleasure,
chamber-scape,
chamber-term.
| 1671 Milton Samson 1112 Nor in the house with *chamber-ambushes Close-banded durst [they] attack me. |
| 1684 Southerne Disappoint. ii. i, Thou art a praying *Chamber-bawd, And truth abhors thee. |
| 1841 Marryat Poacher xl, Mrs. Phillips..lighted a *chamber candlestick to go to bed. |
| 1613 Wither Epithal., *Chamber-combatants who never Wear other helmet than a hat of bever. |
| a 1637 B. Jonson Epigr. lxxii, Thou art started up A *chamber-critic, and doth dine, and sup At madam's table. |
| 1580 Sidney Arcadia (1674) 33 In the comparison thereof [hunting] he disdained all *chamber-delights. |
| 1516 in Glasscock Rec. St. Michael's, Bp. Stortford (1882) 35 For a key to S{supr}. Johns *chamber-dore viijd. 1602 Shakes. Ham. iv. v. 53 He dupt the chamber dore. |
| 1850 Maginn Homeric Ballads 193 Eurynome, as a *chamber-groom With lamp in hand, to the nuptial room The new met partners led. |
| 1611 Shakes. Cymb. v. v. 204 Auerring notes Of *Chamber-hanging, Pictures, etc. |
| 1647 R. Stapylton Juvenal 52 What giv'st thou to my lord Cossus his *Chamber-keepers? |
| 1375 Barbour Bruce v. 580 A *chalmir page thar vith him ȝeid. |
| 1774 M. Mackenzie Maritime Surv. Introd. 13 The *Chamber-performances of Map-sellers and Drawers, who..never saw any of the Places they delineate. |
| 1601 Holland Pliny II. 344 Clinice. Margin, *Chamber Physicke. So called, because hee visited his patients lying sicke in bed. |
| a 1640 Massinger Bashful Lov. v. iii. D. Will you..exchange your triumphs For *chamber-pleasures? |
| c 1630 Drummond of Hawthornden Poems Wks. (1711) 56/1 His *chamber-prayers, Which are pour'd 'midst sighs and tears To avert God's fearful wrath. |
| 1627 Bp. Hall Medit. & Vowes i. v, Satan may looke in at my doores..but he shall not haue..one *chamber-roome..to soiourne in. |
| a 1618 Davies Extasie Wks. (1876) 92 (D.) The *chamber-scapes, The sinnes 'gainst Nature, and the brutish rapes. |
| 1856 Olmsted Slave States 49 The *chamber-servants are negroes, and are accomplished in their business. |
| 1670 Eachard Cont. Clergy 16 Bed-making, *chamber-sweeping, and water-fetching. |
| 1597 1st Pt. Return Parnass. iii. i. 888 Sir Oliver, Sir Randal, base, base *chamber-tearmes! |
| a 1613 Overbury A Wife (1638) 120 He begins to sticke his letters in his ground *Chamber-window. 1878 Browning La Saisiaz 16 The chamber-window's open. |
13. Special comb.,
chamber acid, sulphuric acid in the condition and of the strength at which it is removed from the lead chambers;
chamber arrest, confinement in one's room under arrest;
chamber-barrister, a barrister who confines himself to chamber-practice;
† chamber-bored a., of a piece of ordnance, having a chamber of different bore from that of the piece;
chamber cantata, a cantata suitable for performance in a private room;
chamber-cast, a cast of the chambers of a shell;
† chamber-child, -chiel(d,
Sc. ‘a servant who waits in a gentleman's chamber, a valet’ (
Jam.);
chamber-closet, a commode for invalids and the infirm (Knight
Dict. Mech.,
a 1877);
chamber-concert, a concert where chamber-music is performed;
chamber-counsel, (
a) private counsel or business; (
b) opinion given by a lawyer in private chambers (see sense 3 b); (
c) a lawyer who gives opinions in private, not in court;
chamber-counsellor = prec.;
chamber-gas, the gas, or mixture of gases, contained in the large lead chambers used in the manufacture of sulphuric acid;
chamberhand N.Z., one who works in the freezing-chamber in a freezing-works;
chamber-horse, a contrivance which enables a person to obtain exercise resembling that of horse-riding;
chamber kiln, a kiln consisting of a series of chambers arranged in circular form, used for burning cement, bricks, and tiles; also
attrib.;
chamber lad, a bedroom attendant in chambers;
† chamber-letter, one who lets rooms for hire;
chamber man, a bedroom attendant (
cf. chambermaid); a man employed in or about a chamber,
esp. to do the work connected with a manufacture by a chamber process;
chamber-mate, one who shares the same room with another, a
chamber-fellow;
chamber-milliner, a milliner who carries on business in a private house, not in a shop;
chamber-music, that class of music specially fitted for performance in a private room, as distinguished from a concert-room, church, etc.;
chamber-organ, a small organ suitable for a private room;
chamber-piece = chamber 10 b;
chamber-pitch (
Mus.), (see
quot.);
chamber-practice (
Law), practice in chambers and not in court, the practice of a
chamber-counsel;
chamber process, a manufacturing process that is carried out by means of a closed or sealed chamber;
chamber-set, a set of chamber ware or furniture;
† chamber-stead, a place for a chamber;
chamber-stool, a close-stool;
chamber-story (
Arch.), ‘that story of a house appropriated for bed-rooms’ (Gwilt);
chamber-study, private study (see
quot.);
chamber-tomb Archæol., a chambered tomb (see
chambered ppl. a.);
chamber-utensil, -vessel = chamber-pot;
chamber-work,
† (
a) sexual indulgence (
obs.); (
b) the work of a chamber-maid. See also
chamber-deacon, -fellow, -lye, -maid, -pot.
| 1872 W. Crookes tr. Wagner's Chem. Technol. 206 *Chamber Acid. As soon as the acid formed in the leaden chambers has acquired a sp. gr. of 1·5 = 50° B. = 140° Twaddle, it is run off into a reservoir. 1879 Lunge Sulphuric Acid I. 296 At Oker each cubic metre of chamber-space yields 2·85 kilograms chamber-acid of 106° Tw. in the case of rich ores. |
| 1903 Daily Chron. 19 Dec. 5/1 Frederick the Great, when Crown Prince, was not only condemned to *chamber-arrest, but actually flung into prison. |
| 1888 Pall Mall G. 9 Jan. 14/1 He believed that there were one or two ladies practising as *chamber barristers. |
| 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. ii. v. xii. 58 To know whether your Piece be *Chamber-bored. |
| 1905 E. J. Dent Scarlatti 9 The immense popularity of the *chamber-cantata during the whole of the seventeenth and the early part of the eighteenth century. |
| 1875 Dawson Dawn of Life vii. 185 Dr. Gümbel, observing..grains of coccolith..in crystalline calcareous marbles, considered them to be ‘*chamber casts’ or of organic origin. |
| 1546 J. Lindsay Let. in Tytler Hist. Scot. (1864) III. 374 Y⊇ cardinal's *chalmer child. c 1568 Murray in H. Campbell Love-lett. Mary Q. Scots App. 48 Dalgleishe, chalmer-child to my Lord Bothwell, wes takin, and the box and letteris quilk he brought out of the castell. |
| 1836 Musical Libr. Suppl. iii. 19 The..Soirées Musicales established at Paris..probably suggested the *Chamber Concerts. |
| 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. i. ii. 237, I haue trusted thee With all..My *Chamber-Councels. |
| 1691 Wood Ath. Oxon. II. 107 Selden..gave sometimes Chamber-Counsel, and was good at conveyance. 1850 Grote Greece ii. lxii. VIII. 25 His silent assistance in political and judicial debates, as a sort of chamber-counsel, was highly appreciated. |
| 1711 Steele Spect. No. 2 ¶6 He is..among Divines what a *Chamber-Counsellor is among Lawyers. |
| 1879 Lunge Suplhuric Acid I. 331 If..a straight tube is introduced..into the draught-pipe taking away the *chamber-gas. 1950 Landfall IV. 125 The gang of *chamberhands who usually dawdle along behind me. |
| 1774 Wesley Wks. (1872) XIV. 268 Those who cannot afford this [riding], may use a *chamber-horse. 1835–6 Todd Cycl. I. 248/2 The difference between riding a chamber-horse and a real one. 1948 Archit. Rev. CIII. 6 (caption) Thomas Sheraton, Chamber Horse. 1793. The great cabinet-maker designed this ‘chamber horse’ for the gentleman who wished his riding exercise regardless of the weather. |
| a 1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl., *Chamber Kiln, a brick or tile kiln in compartments; sometimes capable of being heated in succession. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXVI. 630 The kilns most commonly employed nowadays [for burning Portland cement] are ‘chamber kilns’. 1921 Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) § 092 Chamber kiln man (cement);..regulates supply of gas in chamber kilns. |
| 1889 F. E. Gretton Memory's Harkback 157 Sugden became *chamber lad to a conveyancer, where he picked up the foundation of his law knowledge. |
| 1670 G. H. Hist. Cardinals i. iii. 74 The *Chamber-men..put on their Cardinalitial habits. 1884 Higginson Com. Sense about Wom. xlii. 173 [She] has her pillow smoothed and her curtains drawn, not by a chambermaid, but by a chamberman. 1921 Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) §148 Chamber man (white lead); makes white lead by chamber process. |
| 1886 Brodrick Hist. Univ. Oxford 22 His *chamber mates and class mates. |
| 1779 Johnson L.P., Milton Wks. (1816) 92 He was a *chamber-milliner and measured his commodities only to his friends. |
| a 1789 Burney Hist. Mus. III. Introd. 9 *Chamber Music such as cantatas, single songs, solos, trios, etc. 1880 Grove Dict. Mus. s.v. 332. |
| 1706 Lond. Gaz. No. 4250/5 Three *Chamber-Organs to be sold. |
| 1852 Seidel Organ 32 Organs..tuned either in the so-called *chamber-pitch..or in the choir-pitch, which was a whole tone higher. |
| 1709 Steele & Add. Tatler No. 101 ¶1 A Lawyer who leaves the Bar for *Chamber-Practice. c 1765 Burke Popery Laws Wks. IX. 336 Chamber practice, and even private conveyancing..are prohibited to them. |
| 1879 Lunge Sulphuric Acid I. 302 A very important assistance in judging of the *chamber-process is afforded by glass windows or sights. |
| 1851 Cist Cincinnati 204 Burley & Lyford..manufacture *chamber sets. 1858 Texas Almanac (Advt.), Parlor and Chamber sets. 1895 Montgomery Ward Catal. 535/2 English decorated Chamber set..consists of wash bowl and pitcher, chamber and cover, mug and soap dish. |
| c 1611 Chapman Iliad xiv. 287 Thou hast a *chamber-stead, Which Vulcan..contriv'd with all fit secrecy. 1615 ― Odyss. xxiii. 270 The bed That stands within our bridal chamber-sted. |
| 1585 Nomenclator (N.) *Chamber-stool. 1608 Withal Dict. 205 (N.) A chamberstoole or pot, lasanum et scaphium. |
| 1868 M. Pattison Academ. Org. 254 In the study of the classics..*chamber-study must always be..superior to any courses of..lectures. |
| 1893 Funk's Stand. Dict., *Chamber tomb. 1929 A. Evans Shaft Graves 69 The rock-cut Chamber Tombs with their dromoi..themselves reflect a form already known in Crete in the age preceding the conquest. 1952 Childe & Simpson Anc. Monum. Scotl. 18 Another class of chamber tombs, peculiar to Orkney but having analogues in Ireland and abroad. |
| 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. 212 b, Lasanum is greke and latin for..a *chaumbre-vessel. |
| 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. xxxi. iv, What he can do Of *chambre werke. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. (1624) 69. 1870 ‘Fanny Fern’ Ginger-Snaps 20 Having done chamber work or cooking, for such a number of years in New York. 1884 N.Y. Herald 27 Oct. 7/2 Girl to do chamber work and waiting. |
Add:
[II.] [8.] b. An underground cavity,
esp. one at least as large as a room; a cave.
| 1744 Phil. Trans. R. Soc. XLI. 362 Most People that have gone into it, went by a Thread or Clue;..which seems altogether unnecessary, there being no Windings or Chambers throughout of any Extent. 1823 W. Buckland Reliquiæ Diluvianæ 111 In the natural chambers there is not a single fragment of bone, except upon or below the floor. 1851 G. A. Mantell Petrifications & their Teachings iv. 397 The entrance to this cave..leads to a series of chambers from fifteen to twenty feet high, and several hundred feet in extent, terminating in a deep chasm. 1981 F. Hoyle Ice ii. 37 Although the cave is nearly 300 metres long, most of the paintings are in a chamber 18 by 9 metres, which has an average height of 2 metres. |
c. Mining. A large ore deposit or lode with well-defined boundaries.
| [1884 J. A. Phillips Treat. Ore Deposits i. 30 The regular unstratified metalliferous deposits comprehend true veins, segregated veins and gash veins; while the others, namely, impregnations, stockworks, fahlbands, contact and chamber deposits, are spoken of as irregular.] 1886 J. Geikie Outl. Geol. xvi. 207 Chambers or pockets is the name given to larger or smaller ore deposits filling up irregular cavities in calcareous rocks. 1935 Stočes & White Structural Geol. 293 By the enlargement of certain parts of the vein, what are known as chamber lodes are formed. When the chambers are lenticular and frequent they are called lenticular veins. 1980 W. A. Visser Geol. Nomencl. 299/1 Ore stock; ore chamber; ore pocket;—terms in common use to describe larger ore masses. |
▪ II. chamber, v. (
ˈtʃeɪmbə(r))
[f. prec. n.: cf. F. chambrer in some of the same senses.] 1. trans. To place in, or as in, a chamber; to shut
up, confine, enclose.
arch.| 1575 Turberv. Venerie 195 To make the vermine flee downe into the lowest parts & there to chamber or angle themselves. 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, i. i. 149 The best blood chamber'd in his bosome. 1601 W. Parry Sherley's Trav. (1863) 16 Their women are..closely chambred up. 1640 Brome Sparagus Gard. iv. v. Wks. 1873 III. 186 Call downe my Neece out of The melancholy mist she's chambred in. 1818 Milman Samor 346. 1868 Bushnell Serm. Living Subj. 91 Chambered..in his sleep under the open sky. |
† 2. fig. To restrain, keep within bounds (one's tongue, words, etc.).
Obs.| 138. Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. II. 124 Crist chaumbred his wordis and tauȝte men to flee boost. 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. 10 a, Critias..thretened hym, that onelesse he chambred his tongue, etc. 1644 Prynne & Walker Fiennes' Trial 12 To chamber up or restraine Iustice intra Privatos Parietes. 17.. Will Stewart xlv. in Child Ballads iv. 425/2 Chamber thy words now, I bidd thee. |
3. To form into a chamber or into chambers.
| 1674 Durant in Phil. Trans. XLIV. 223 A spacious Cavity, chambered with Walls and Pillars of decident lapidescent Waters. 1866 Argyll Reign Law ii. (ed. 4) 102 A structure..hollowed and chambered on the plan which engineers have so lately discovered. |
4. a. To provide (a gun) with a chamber.
| 1708 Kersey To Chamber a Gun is to make a chamber in her. 1879 [see chamber n. 10 c.]. 1885 Capt. Noble in Pall Mall G. 13 Apr. 2/2 You must either ‘chamber’ or refrain from firing such large charges. |
b. To furnish with a concavity, to hollow underneath.
Cf. chambered 3.
c. To contain or hold as in a chamber. Of a fire-arm: to receive in the chamber.
| 1835 N. J. Wyeth Jrnl. 13 Apr. in F. G. Young Sources Hist. Oregon (1899) I. iii–vi. 251 Building a canoe 60 feet long wide and deep enough to chamber barrells of which she will take 25. 1839 S. Lit. Messenger V. 97/2 My father's big gun..would chamber five buckshot. 1902 S. E. White Blazed Trail xx. 141 Wallace's rifle chambered the ·38 Winchester cartridge. 1904 ― Blazed Trail Stories 163 Each was armed..with a brace of Colt's revolvers, chambering the same-sized cartridges as the rifle. |
† 5. intr. To lodge in, or as in, a chamber.
Obs.| 1611 Heywood Gold. Age i. i. Wks. 1874 III. 11 You shall no more..chamber vnderneath the spreading Okes. |
¶ 6. ‘To be wanton, indulge in lewdness’ (J.).
| 1607 Niccols Cuckow (T.), Their chambering fortitude they did descry By their soft maiden voice and flickering eye. 1826 Scott Woodst. iii, What—chambering and wantoning in our very presence! (Cf. also chambering vbl. n. 2.) |
7. intr. Of a mining vein: to open up, expand.
U.S.| 1873 J. H. Beadle Undevel. West xviii. 335 The miner starts with a vein a foot or more wide..then it suddenly ‘chambers’ to some size, then ‘pinches’ to the thickness of a knife-blade. |