From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
chair
n 1: a seat for one person, with a support for the back; "he put
his coat over the back of the chair and sat down"
2: the position of professor; "he was awarded an endowed chair
in economics" [syn: professorship, chair]
3: the officer who presides at the meetings of an organization;
"address your remarks to the chairperson" [syn: president,
chairman, chairwoman, chair, chairperson]
4: an instrument of execution by electrocution; resembles an
ordinary seat for one person; "the murderer was sentenced to
die in the chair" [syn: electric chair, chair, {death
chair}, hot seat]
5: a particular seat in an orchestra; "he is second chair
violin"
v 1: act or preside as chair, as of an academic department in a
university; "She chaired the department for many years"
[syn: chair, chairman]
2: preside over; "John moderated the discussion" [syn:
moderate, chair, lead]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Chair \Chair\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Chaired; p. pr. & vb. n.
Chairing.]
1. To place in a chair.
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2. To carry publicly in a chair in triumph. [Eng.]
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3. To function as chairperson of (a meeting, committee,
etc.); as, he chaired the meeting.
[PJC]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Chair \Chair\ (ch[^a]r), 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.]
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1. A movable single seat with a back.
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2. An official seat, as of a chief magistrate or a judge, but
esp. that of a professor; hence, the office itself.
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The chair of a philosophical school. --Whewell.
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A chair of philology. --M. Arnold.
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3. The presiding officer of an assembly; a chairman; as, to
address the chair.
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4. A vehicle for one person; either a sedan borne upon poles,
or two-wheeled carriage, drawn by one horse; a gig.
--Shak.
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Think what an equipage thou hast in air,
And view with scorn two pages and a chair. --Pope.
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5. An iron block used on railways to support the rails and
secure them to the sleepers.
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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.
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