chair

/tʃeər/

noun

  1. a seat for one person, usually with a back and four legs

    A1

    countable

    • "Please sit on this chair."A1
    • "There are four chairs around the table."A2
    • "She pulled up a chair and joined us."B1

  2. the person who leads a meeting, committee, or organization

    B1

    countableformal

    • "She was elected chair of the committee."B1
    • "The chair opened the meeting and read the agenda."B2
    • "The committee chair asked everyone to vote."B2
    • "The chair ruled the motion out of order."C1

  3. a senior position, especially in a university department

    C1

    countable

    • "He was appointed to the chair of history."C1
    • "The university established a new chair in environmental science."C2

verb

  1. to lead a meeting, committee, or organization and guide its discussion or decisions

    B2

    transitive; regularformal

    • "Who is chairing the meeting today?"B1
    • "She chaired the discussion calmly and kept everyone on topic."B2
    • "The panel was chaired by a leading economist."C1

Common mistakes

  • I need chair.→I need a chair.

    Chair is a countable noun, so use a/an or the before it in the singular.

Collocations

office chairdining chairwooden chairchair a meetingtake the chairchair of the committeeuniversity chair

Word family

chairpersonchairmanchairwomanchairmanshipchairing