chamber

UK: /ˈtʃeɪmbə^r/ US: /ˈtʃeɪmbɚ/ ,(chām′bər)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

cham•ber /ˈtʃeɪmbɚ/   n. 

[countable]
1. a private room in a house or apartment, esp. a bedroom.
2. a room in a palace or an official home:
   We saw the queen's meeting chambers.
3. Government
   • a law-making group or a branch of such a group: the upper and lower chambers of a legislature.
   • a room housing such an assembly.
4. Law chambers, [plural] a place where a judge listens to matters not needing action in the open courtroom.
5. an enclosed space;
   cavity:
   a chamber of the heart.

adj. [before a noun]

6. Music and Dance of, relating to, or performing chamber music:
   chamber players.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

cham•ber  (chām′bər), n. 

1. a room, usually private, in a house or apartment, esp. a bedroom:
   She retired to her chamber.
2. a room in a palace or official residence.
3. Government the meeting hall of a legislative or other assembly.
4. Law chambers:
   • Law a place where a judge hears matters not requiring action in open court.
   • Law the private office of a judge.
   • Law (in England) the quarters or rooms that lawyers use to consult with their clients, esp. in the Inns of Court.
5. Government a legislative, judicial, or other like body:
   the upper or the lower chamber of a legislature.
6. Government an organization of individuals or companies for a specified purpose.
7. Government the place where the moneys due a government are received and kept;
   a treasury or chamberlain's office.
8. Architecture (in early New England) any bedroom above the ground floor, generally named for the ground-floor room beneath it.
9. a compartment or enclosed space;
   cavity:
   a chamber of the heart.
10. Civil Engineering (in a canal or the like) the space between any two gates of a lock.
11. Military a receptacle for one or more cartridges in a firearm, or for a shell in a gun or other cannon.
12. Military (in a gun) the part of the barrel that receives the charge.
13. See chamber pot. 

adj. 

14. Music and Dance of, pertaining to, or performing chamber music:
    chamber players.

v.t. 

15. to put or enclose in, or as in, a chamber.
16. to provide with a chamber.

• Greek kamára
• Latin camera, variant of camara vaulted room, vault
• Old French
• Middle English chambre 1175–1225

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

chamber / ˈtʃeɪmbə/ noun

1. a meeting hall, esp one used for a legislative or judicial assembly
2. a reception room or audience room in an official residence, palace, etc
3. a room in a private house, esp a bedroom
4. a legislative, deliberative, judicial, or administrative assembly
5. any of the houses of a legislature
6. an enclosed space; compartment; cavity
7. an enclosure for a cartridge in the cylinder of a revolver or for a shell in the breech of a cannon
8. short for chamberpot
9. (modifier) of, relating to, or suitable for chamber music: a chamber concert

Etymology: 13th Century: from Old French chambre, from Late Latin camera room, Latin: vault, from Greek kamara