2
: a natural or artificial enclosed space or cavity
3
a
: a hall for the meetings of a deliberative, legislative, or judicial body
the senate chamber
b
: a room where a judge transacts business
—usually used in plural
c
: the reception room of a person of rank or authority
4
a
: a legislative or judicial body
especially
: either of the houses of a bicameral legislature
b
: a voluntary board or council
5
a
: the part of the bore of a gun that holds the charge
b
: a compartment in the cartridge cylinder of a revolver
chambered; chambering
ˈchām-b(ə-)riŋ 
1
: to place in or as if in a chamber : house
2
: to serve as a chamber for
especially
: to accommodate in the chamber of a firearm
: being, relating to, or performing chamber music
Synonyms
Examples of chamber in a Sentence
Noun
If the batteries are not properly installed in the chamber of the remote control, it won't work.
There are four chambers in the human heart.
We waited for the senator outside the Senate chamber.
The U.S. legislature is separated into two chambers: the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Verb
chambered the lost hikers in the barn until the next morning
Recent Examples on the Web
USA TODAY, 20 Apr. 2024
The upper chamber is filled with 3.75 ml of oil, which creates and almost surreal lack of distortion when vieweing the dial through the crystal.
—Allen Farmelo, Robb Report, 19 Apr. 2024
Democrats ultimately need two Republicans to join them in each chamber.
—Elizabeth Schulze, ABC News, 18 Apr. 2024
Repealing the 1864 measure would draw unanimous support from Democratic lawmakers and need the votes of only two Republicans in each chamber.
—Noah Bierman, Los Angeles Times, 17 Apr. 2024
House Republicans delivered articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to the Senate on Tuesday afternoon, commencing what is likely to be a brief trial in the upper chamber that could conclude as soon as Wednesday.
—Liz Goodwin, Washington Post, 16 Apr. 2024
After the House transmits the articles of impeachment to the upper chamber, the chamber must schedule a trial to begin the next legislative day, according to Senate rules.
—Kaia Hubbard, CBS News, 16 Apr. 2024
On day one, Haldane and Case had sat upright inside the largest chamber and breathed oxygen and played the ball game at shallower depths, with both subjects developing no more than a mysterious slight cough afterward.
—Rachel Lance, Smithsonian Magazine, 16 Apr. 2024
Tommy Frederick Allan, who scaled the Capitol on a rope and stole an American flag and documents from the Senate chamber, was sentenced in December 2022 to 21 months in prison and three years probation.
—Gillian Brassil, Sacramento Bee, 16 Apr. 2024
John Molseed, Twin Cities, 5 Feb. 2024
Jurors also saw a video that the shooter took of himself in the family home, loading a magazine into a gun, then chambering a round.
—Gina Kaufman, Detroit Free Press, 26 Jan. 2024
The standard model has a black synthetic stock and detachable magazine, and is chambered for seven popular cartridges.
—Michael Dickerson, Outdoor Life, 10 Apr. 2023
Gun companies are making single-shots, semi-autos, and bolt-actions chambered for it.
—T. Logan Metesh, Field & Stream, 4 Jan. 2024
Ashley is left-handed, so this year John bought her a left-hand Tikka rifle chambered in 243 Winchester.
—Bryan Hendricks, arkansasonline.com, 10 Dec. 2023
The rifle is chambered for seven popular cartridges.
—Mike Dickerson, Field & Stream, 19 July 2023
Depending on the chambering, the rifle weighs 6.2 to 6.4 pounds.
—Mike Dickerson, Field & Stream, 19 July 2023
It was chambered in the new M14 U.S. Service Rifle in 1957 and saw duty in Korea and Vietnam, with soldiers undoubtedly appreciating its lighter recoil.
—Ron Spomer, Outdoor Life, 5 July 2023
Brian Amaral, BostonGlobe.com, 6 Apr. 2023
Brennan immediately dictated a note, and a terse exchange of letters on the afternoon of March 27, 1978, sent to the entire conference—all justices receiving a copy—may mark a low point in the history of intra-chamber correspondence at the Supreme Court.
—J.c. Hallman, The New Republic, 11 June 2020
With less than a week and a half left in the legislative session, bills to crack down on police officers with histories of misconduct have been caught in the crosshairs of inter-chamber tensions and are in danger of not passing.
—James Barragán, San Antonio Express-News, 21 May 2021
One of those plugs incorporates a passive pre-chamber ignition system.
—Mike Duff, Car and Driver, 9 Sep. 2020
If there is any doubt of this technology's value, know that Formula 1 engines use pre-chamber ignition.
—Mike Duff, Car and Driver, 9 Sep. 2020
Maserati has employed a dual-spark-plug configuration with an innovative pre-chamber combustion system integrated into the cylinder heads.
—David Beard, Car and Driver, 2 July 2020
Noun
Because any one senator can prevent leadership from speeding up the process of considering legislation, the Senate slogged through much of the time necessary to pass the bill in the upper chamber and finally passed it early Saturday morning.
—USA TODAY, 20 Apr. 2024
The upper chamber is filled with 3.75 ml of oil, which creates and almost surreal lack of distortion when vieweing the dial through the crystal.
—Allen Farmelo, Robb Report, 19 Apr. 2024
Democrats ultimately need two Republicans to join them in each chamber.
—Elizabeth Schulze, ABC News, 18 Apr. 2024
Repealing the 1864 measure would draw unanimous support from Democratic lawmakers and need the votes of only two Republicans in each chamber.
—Noah Bierman, Los Angeles Times, 17 Apr. 2024
House Republicans delivered articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to the Senate on Tuesday afternoon, commencing what is likely to be a brief trial in the upper chamber that could conclude as soon as Wednesday.
—Liz Goodwin, Washington Post, 16 Apr. 2024
After the House transmits the articles of impeachment to the upper chamber, the chamber must schedule a trial to begin the next legislative day, according to Senate rules.
—Kaia Hubbard, CBS News, 16 Apr. 2024
On day one, Haldane and Case had sat upright inside the largest chamber and breathed oxygen and played the ball game at shallower depths, with both subjects developing no more than a mysterious slight cough afterward.
—Rachel Lance, Smithsonian Magazine, 16 Apr. 2024
Tommy Frederick Allan, who scaled the Capitol on a rope and stole an American flag and documents from the Senate chamber, was sentenced in December 2022 to 21 months in prison and three years probation.
—Gillian Brassil, Sacramento Bee, 16 Apr. 2024
Verb
Jose Gutierrez Ojeda initially brandished a pistol and appeared to rack the firearm to chamber a round.
—John Molseed, Twin Cities, 5 Feb. 2024
Jurors also saw a video that the shooter took of himself in the family home, loading a magazine into a gun, then chambering a round.
—Gina Kaufman, Detroit Free Press, 26 Jan. 2024
The standard model has a black synthetic stock and detachable magazine, and is chambered for seven popular cartridges.
—Michael Dickerson, Outdoor Life, 10 Apr. 2023
Gun companies are making single-shots, semi-autos, and bolt-actions chambered for it.
—T. Logan Metesh, Field & Stream, 4 Jan. 2024
Ashley is left-handed, so this year John bought her a left-hand Tikka rifle chambered in 243 Winchester.
—Bryan Hendricks, arkansasonline.com, 10 Dec. 2023
The rifle is chambered for seven popular cartridges.
—Mike Dickerson, Field & Stream, 19 July 2023
Depending on the chambering, the rifle weighs 6.2 to 6.4 pounds.
—Mike Dickerson, Field & Stream, 19 July 2023
It was chambered in the new M14 U.S. Service Rifle in 1957 and saw duty in Korea and Vietnam, with soldiers undoubtedly appreciating its lighter recoil.
—Ron Spomer, Outdoor Life, 5 July 2023
Adjective
And what sort of legislative horse trading will have to happen to make the always-complex inter-chamber politics between the House and Senate work?
—Brian Amaral, BostonGlobe.com, 6 Apr. 2023
Brennan immediately dictated a note, and a terse exchange of letters on the afternoon of March 27, 1978, sent to the entire conference—all justices receiving a copy—may mark a low point in the history of intra-chamber correspondence at the Supreme Court.
—J.c. Hallman, The New Republic, 11 June 2020
With less than a week and a half left in the legislative session, bills to crack down on police officers with histories of misconduct have been caught in the crosshairs of inter-chamber tensions and are in danger of not passing.
—James Barragán, San Antonio Express-News, 21 May 2021
One of those plugs incorporates a passive pre-chamber ignition system.
—Mike Duff, Car and Driver, 9 Sep. 2020
If there is any doubt of this technology's value, know that Formula 1 engines use pre-chamber ignition.
—Mike Duff, Car and Driver, 9 Sep. 2020
Maserati has employed a dual-spark-plug configuration with an innovative pre-chamber combustion system integrated into the cylinder heads.
—David Beard, Car and Driver, 2 July 2020
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'chamber.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Articles Related to chamber
Dictionary Entries Near chamber
Cite this Entry
“Chamber.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/chamber. Accessed 25 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
chamber
1 of 2 noun
cham·ber
ˈchām-bər
1
: a room in a house and especially a bedroom
2
: an enclosed space or compartment
the chamber of a pistol
the chambers of the heart
3
a
: a meeting hall of a government body (as an assembly)
b
: a room where a judge conducts business out of court
—usually used in plural
4
a
: a group of people organized into a lawmaking body
the lower chamber of the legislature
b
: a board or council of volunteers (as businesspeople)
Etymology
Noun
Middle English chambre "chamber," from early French chambre (same meaning), from Latin camera "room, chamber" — related to camera
Medical Definition
chamber
noun
cham·ber
ˈchām-bər
: an enclosed space within the body of an animal see anterior chamber, posterior chamber, pulp chamber, vitreous chamber
Legal Definition
chamber
noun
cham·ber
1
: a judge's office
specifically
: the private office where a judge carries on business other than court sessions (as conferences or signing papers)
—usually used in pl.
four other judges met in my chambers —R. H. Bork
R. H. Bork a hearing in chambers
2
a
: a hall for the meetings of a deliberative, legislative, or judicial body or assembly
to run back into the House chamber—Tip O'Neill
Tip O'Neill
b
: a legislative or judicial body : house
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