Main Entry: ¹seat

Pronunciation: \ˈsēt\

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English sete, from Old Norse sæti; akin to Old English gesete seat, sittan to sit

Date: 13th century

1 a : a special chair of one in eminence; also : the status represented by it b : a chair, stool, or bench intended to be sat in or on c : the particular part of something on which one rests in sitting <the seat of a chair> <trouser seat> d : buttocks
2 a : a seating accommodation <a seat for the game> <a 200-seat restaurant> b : a right of sitting <lost his seat in Congress> c : membership on an exchange
3 a : a place where something specified is prevalent : center <a seat of learning> b : a place from which authority is exercised <the county seat> c : a bodily part in which some function or condition is centered <the brain as the seat of the mind>
4 : posture in or way of sitting on horseback
5 a : a part at or forming the base of something b : a part (as a socket) or surface on or in which another part or surface rests

— by the seat of one's pants : using experience and intuition rather than mechanical aids or formal theory