From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
fireplace
n 1: an open recess in a wall at the base of a chimney where a
fire can be built; "the fireplace was so large you could
walk inside it"; "he laid a fire in the hearth and lit it";
"the hearth was black with the charcoal of many fires"
[syn: fireplace, hearth, open fireplace]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Fireplace \Fire"place`\, n.
The part a chimney appropriated to the fire; a hearth; --
usually an open recess in a wall, in which a fire may be
built.
[1913 Webster]