chamber

/ˈtʃeɪmbər/

/ˈtʃeɪmbə/

Other forms: chambered; chambering

A chamber is an enclosed space, often where a specific event usually takes place — such as a sleeping chamber or a torture chamber.

The history of the word chamber is an interesting one. The Latin word for room was camera. The original word for camera was camera obscura, or "dark chamber," since it was a big black box. Now, the word chamber can refer to any enclosed space — such as the chamber of a gun or the four chambers of your heart.

Definitions of chamber

1. noun

   a natural or artificial enclosed space
   types:

   air lock, airlock

   a chamber that provides access to space where air is under pressure

   air-raid shelter, bomb shelter, bombproof

   a chamber (often underground) reinforced against bombing and provided with food and living facilities; used during air raids

   burial chamber, sepulcher, sepulchre, sepulture

   a chamber that is used as a grave

   caisson, cofferdam, pneumatic caisson

   large watertight chamber used for construction under water

   camera obscura

   a darkened enclosure in which images of outside objects are projected through a small aperture or lens onto a facing surface

   core

   the chamber of a nuclear reactor containing the fissile material where the reaction takes place

   cylinder, piston chamber

   a chamber within which a piston moves

   firing chamber, gun chamber

   chamber that is the part of a gun that receives the charge

   furnace

   an enclosed chamber in which heat is produced to heat buildings, destroy refuse, smelt or refine ores, etc.

   hyperbaric chamber

   a large chamber in which the oxygen pressure is above normal for the atmosphere; used in treating breathing disorders or carbon monoxide poisoning

   particle detector

   a chamber in which particles can be made visible

   cavity resonator, resonating chamber, resonator

   a hollow chamber whose dimensions allow the resonant oscillation of electromagnetic or acoustic waves

   steam chest

   the chamber from which steam is distributed to a cylinder

   fireroom, stokehold, stokehole

   (nautical) chamber or compartment in which the furnaces of a ship are stoked or fired

   packing box, stuffing box

   a small chamber in which packing is compressed around a reciprocating shaft or piston to form a seal

   tokamak

   a doughnut-shaped chamber used in fusion research; a plasma is heated and confined in a magnetic bottle

   vacuum chamber

   a chamber from which nearly all matter (especially air) has been removed

   athanor

   a furnace that feeds itself so as to maintain a uniform temperature; used by alchemists

   blast furnace

   a furnace for smelting of iron from iron oxide ores; combustion is intensified by a blast of air

   brake cylinder, hydraulic brake cylinder, master cylinder

   a cylinder that contains brake fluid that is compressed by a piston

   bubble chamber

   an instrument that records the tracks of ionizing particles

   Wilson cloud chamber, cloud chamber

   apparatus that detects the path of high-energy particles passing through a supersaturated vapor; each particle ionizes molecules along its path and small droplets condense on them to produce a visible track

   cremation chamber, crematorium, crematory

   a furnace where a corpse can be burned and reduced to ashes

   crypt

   a cellar or vault or underground burial chamber (especially beneath a church)

   cupola

   a vertical cylindrical furnace for melting iron for casting

   electric furnace

   any furnace in which the heat is provided by an electric current

   firebox

   a furnace (as on a steam locomotive) in which fuel is burned

   forge

   furnace consisting of a special hearth where metal is heated before shaping

   gas furnace

   a furnace that burns gas

   incinerator

   a furnace for incinerating (especially to dispose of refuse)

   kiln

   a furnace for firing, burning, or drying such things as porcelain or bricks

   mausoleum

   a large burial chamber, usually above ground

   oil burner, oil furnace

   a furnace that burns oil

   open-hearth furnace

   a furnace for making steel in which the steel is placed on a shallow hearth and flames of burning gas and hot air play over it

   monument, repository

   a burial vault (usually for some famous person)

   reverberatory furnace

   a furnace in which the material that is being treated is heated indirectly by flames that are directed at the roof and walls of the furnace

   body, soundbox

   a resonating chamber in a musical instrument (as the body of a violin)

   soundboard, sounding board

   (music) resonator consisting of a thin board whose vibrations reinforce the sound of the instrument

   spark chamber, spark counter

   an instrument that detects ionizing radiation from elementary particles

   tank furnace

   furnace into one end of which a batch of measured raw materials is shoveled and from the other end molten glass is obtained

   burial vault, vault

   a burial chamber (usually underground)

   type of:

   enclosure

   a structure consisting of an area that has been enclosed for some purpose
2. noun

   a room where a judge transacts business
   types:

   divan, diwan

   a Muslim council chamber or law court

   type of:

   room

   an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
3. noun

   a room used primarily for sleeping
   synonyms: bedchamber, bedroom, sleeping accommodation, sleeping room

   types:

   boudoir

   a lady's bedroom or private sitting room

   child's room

   a bedroom for a child

   dorm room, dormitory, dormitory room

   a large sleeping room containing several beds

   guestroom

   a bedroom that is kept for the use of guests

   hotel room

   a bedroom (usually with bath) in a hotel

   master bedroom

   the principal bedroom in a house; usually occupied by the head of the household

   motel room

   a sleeping room in a motel

   adjoining room

   a hotel room that shares a wall with another hotel room

   connecting room

   a hotel room that shares a wall with an adjoining room and is connected by a private door

   baby's room, nursery

   a child's room for a baby

   type of:

   room

   an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
4. noun

   an enclosed volume in the body
   “the chambers of his heart were healthy”

   types:

   heart ventricle, ventricle

   a chamber of the heart that receives blood from an atrium and pumps it to the arteries

   atrium

   any chamber that is connected to other chambers or passageways (especially one of the two upper chambers of the heart)

   left ventricle

   the chamber on the left side of the heart that receives arterial blood from the left atrium and pumps it into the aorta

   right ventricle

   the chamber on the right side of the heart that receives venous blood from the right atrium and pumps it into the pulmonary trunk

   atrium cordis, atrium of the heart

   the upper chamber of each half of the heart

   type of:

   bodily cavity, cavity, cavum

   (anatomy) a natural hollow or sinus within the body
5. verb

   place in a chamber
   type of:

   domiciliate, house, put up

   provide housing for
6. noun

   a deliberative or legislative or administrative or judicial assembly
   “the upper chamber is the senate”

   type of:

   assembly

   a group of persons who are gathered together for a common purpose