CHAMBER, ch[=a]m'b[.e]r, _n._ an apartment: the place where an assembly meets: an assembly or body of men met for some purpose, as a chamber of commerce: a hall of justice: a compartment: a cavity: the back end of the bore of a gun.--_v.t._ to put in a chamber: to confine.--_v.i._ to be wanton.--_ns._ CHAM'BER-COUN'CIL (_Shak._), a private or secret council; CHAM'BER-COUN'SEL, -COUN'SELLOR, a counsel who gives his advice privately, but does not plead in court.--_adj._ CHAM'BERED.--_ns._ CHAM'BERER, a man of intrigue: (_Shak._) a gallant; CHAM'BER-FELL'OW, one occupying the same chamber.--_n.pl._ CHAM'BER-HANG'INGS (_Shak._), the hangings or tapestry of a chamber.--_ns._ CHAM'BERING (_B._), lewd behaviour; CHAM'BER-LYE (_Shak._), urine; CHAM'BER-MAID, a female servant who has the care of bedrooms; CHAM'BER-POT, a necessary bedroom vessel--often merely CHAM'BER; CHAM'BER-PRAC'TICE, the business of a chamber-counsellor (q.v.). [Fr.
_chambre_--L. _camera_--Gr. _kamara_, a vault, a room.]
CHAMBERLAIN, ch[=a]m'b[.e]r-l[=a]n, or -lin, _n._ an officer appointed by a king or nobleman, or by a corporation, to perform domestic and ceremonial duties.--_n._ CHAM'BERLAINSHIP.--LORD CHAMBERLAIN, an officer of high standing in the royal household, having control over all the officers and servants 'above stairs,' except those of the bedchamber, over the establishment attached to the Chapel Royal, the physicians, surgeons, and apothecaries of the household; LORD GREAT CHAMBERLAIN, a hereditary officer who has the government of the palace of Westminster, and upon solemn occasions the keys of Westminster Hall and of the Court of Requests are delivered to him. [O. Fr. _chambrelenc_; Old Ger. _chamerling_--L.
_camera_, a chamber, and affix _-ling_ or _-lenc_ = Eng. _-ling_ in _hireling_.]
CHAMBERTIN, shang'bert-ang, _n._ a famous red Burgundy from the vineyard of that name near Dijon, in France.
CHAMELEON, ka-m[=e]l'yun, _n._ a small lizard famous for changing its colour: (_fig._) an inconstant person.--_adjs._ CHAMEL'EONIC, CHAMEL'EON-LIKE. [L. _chamaeleon_--Gr. _chamaile[=o]n_--_chamai_ (= L.
_humi_), on the ground, dwarf, and _le[=o]n_, a lion.]
CHAMELOT, kam'e-lot, _n._ (_Spens._). CAMLET.
CHAMFER, cham'f[.e]r, _n._ a bevel or slope made by paring off the edge of anything originally right-angled, either in wood or stone work: a groove, channel, or furrow.--_v.t._ to cut or grind off bevel-wise, as a corner: to channel or make furrows upon; to flute, as a column.--_adj._ CHAM'FERED, furrowed, grooved, wrinkled. [Fr. _chanfrein_--O. Fr. _chanfraindre_, which acc. to Dr Murray may be from _chant fraindre_--L. _cantum frang[)e]re_, to break the edge or side.]
CHAMFRAIN, cham'fren, _n._ a piece of leather or plate of steel to protect the face of a horse in battle.--Also CHAM'FRON, CHAF'FRON. [Fr.
_chanfrein_; origin unknown.]
CHAMLET, kam'let, _n._ Same as CAMLET.
CHAMOIS, sha'moi, sham'i, or sham'waw, _n._ a goat-like species or genus of antelope inhabiting the Alps and other high mountains of southern and central Europe: a soft kind of leather originally made from its skin.
[Fr.,--Teut.; cf. mod. Ger. _gemse_, a chamois.]
CHAMOMILE. See CAMOMILE.
CHAMP, champ, _v.i._ to make a snapping noise with the jaws in chewing.--_v.t._ to bite or chew: to crush: to mash.--_n._ champing.--_n._ CHAMP'ING, the action of the verb _champ_: mashing. [Older form _cham_, most prob. from Scand.]
CHAMPAC, cham'pak, _n._ an Indian tree of great beauty, much venerated by Brahminists and Buddhists.--Also CHAM'PAK. [Hind.]
CHAMPAGNE, sham-p[=a]n', _n._ a light sparkling wine from _Champagne_ in France. Still or non-effervescent champagne is also made.
CHAMPAIGN, sham-p[=a]n', _adj._ level, open.--_n._ an open, level country.--_n._ CHAMP (_her._), the field of a shield.--THE CHAMPAGNE, level land. [A doublet of CAMPAIGN, from O. Fr. _champaigne_--L. _campania_, a plain.]
CHAMPERTY, sham'p[.e]r-ti, _n._ an illegal bargain whereby the one party is to assist the other in recovering property, and is to share in the proceeds.--_n._ CHAM'PART, the division of the produce of land, the right of the feudal lord. [Norm. Fr.--L. _campi pars_, part of the field.]
CHAMPIGNON, sham-pin'yon, _n._ a mushroom, esp. the Fairy-ring Agaric.
[Fr.]
CHAMPION, cham'pi-un, _n._ one who fights in single combat for himself or for another: one who defends a cause: a successful combatant: in boxing, running, &c., one who has excelled all others: a hero:--_fem._ CHAM'PIONESS.--_adj._ acting as champion, first: first-class.--_v.t._ (_obs._) to challenge: to defend: to support.--_n._ CHAM'PIONSHIP.
[Fr.,--Low L. _campio_, _campion-em_--L. _campus_, a plain, a place for games.]
CHANCE, chans, _n._ that which falls out or happens: an unexpected event: risk: opportunity: possibility of something happening: probability: (_pl._) misfortunes.--_v.t._ to risk.--_v.i._ to happen.--_adj._ happening by chance.--_adv._ perchance.--_n._ CHANCE'-COM'ER, one who comes by chance or unexpectedly.--_adjs._ CHANCE'FUL (_Spens._), full of risk or danger, hazardous; CHANC'Y (_coll._), lucky, bringing good luck: also risky, uncertain.--BY CHANCE, accidentally; EVEN CHANCE, the probability being equally for or against.--HOW CHANCE? (_Shak._) how does it happen that?--STAND A GOOD CHANCE, to have a reasonable expectation; TAKE ONE'S CHANCE, to accept what happens: to risk an undertaking; THE MAIN CHANCE, the chief object (often used of matrimony): what is most important. [O. Fr.
_cheance_--Low L. _cadentia_--L. _cad[)e]re_, to fall.]
CHANCEL, chan'sel, _n._ the eastern part of a church, originally separated from the nave by a screen of lattice-work, so as to prevent general access thereto, though not to interrupt either sight or sound. [O. Fr.,--L.
_cancelli_, lattices.]
CHANCELLOR, chan'sel-or, _n._ (_Shak._) secretary: the president of a court of chancery or other court: the official who keeps the registers of an order of knighthood: the titular head of a university: (_Scot._) the foreman of a jury.--_ns._ CHAN'CELLORSHIP; CHAN'CELLORY.--CHANCELLOR OF A CATHEDRAL, an officer who formerly had charge of the chapter library, custody of the common seal, superintendence of the choir practices, and headship of the cathedral schools; CHANCELLOR OF A DIOCESE, an ecclesiastical judge uniting the functions of vicar-general and official principal, appointed to assist the bishop in questions of ecclesiastical law, and hold his courts for him; CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER, the chief minister of finance in the British government; LORD CHANCELLOR, LORD HIGH CHANCELLOR, the presiding judge of the Court of Chancery, the keeper of the great seal, and the first lay person of the state after the blood-royal.
[Fr. _chancelier_--Low L. _cancellarius_, orig. an officer that had charge of records, and stood near the _cancelli_ (L.), the crossbars that surrounded the judgment-seat.]
CHANCE-MEDLEY, chans'-med-li, _n._ homicide justifiable because done in the hot blood caused by an unprovoked assault--the word has no reference to homicide by accident: inadvertency. [O. Fr. _chance medlee_, mingled chance. 'From the fact that _medley_ is also a noun, and _chance-medley_ a possible combination in the sense of "fortuitous medley," the meaning has often been mistaken' (Dr Murray).]
CHANCERY, chan's[.e]r-i, _n._ formerly the highest court of justice next to the House of Lords, presided over by the Lord High Chancellor--now a division of the High Court of Justice: a court of record generally: (_slang_) the position of a boxer's head when under his adversary's arm: (_obs._) the office of a chancellor or ambassador.--CHANCERY OFFICE, in Scotland, an office in the General Register House at Edinburgh, managed by a director, in which all royal charters of novodamus, patents of dignities, gifts of offices, remissions, legitimations, presentations, commissions, and other writs appointed to pass the Great and Quarter Seals are recorded.--IN CHANCERY, in litigation, as an estate: (_slang_) in an awkward predicament. [Fr. _chancellerie_.]
CHANCRE, shang'k[.e]r, _n._ an ulcer arising from the direct application of syphilitic poison.--_adjs._ CHAN'CROID, CHAN'CROUS. [Fr.; a form of CANKER.]
CHANDELIER, shan-de-l[=e]r', _n._ a frame with branches for holding lights.--_ns._ CHAND'LER, originally a candle maker and dealer: a dealer generally; CHAND'LERING.--_adv._ CHAND'LERLY.--_ns._ CHAND'LERY, goods sold by a chandler; SHIP'-CHAND'LER, dealer in general stores for ships.
[Fr.,--Low L. _candelaria_, a candlestick--L. _cand[=e]la_, a candle.]
CHANGE, ch[=a]nj, _v.t._ to alter or make different: to put or give for another: to make to pass from one state to another: to exchange.--_v.i._ to suffer change: to change one's clothes.--_n._ the act of changing: alteration or variation of any kind: (_Shak._) exchange: (_Shak._) fickleness: a shift: variety: small coin: also used as a short term for the Exchange.--_ns._ CHANGEABIL'ITY, CHANGE'ABLENESS, fickleness: power of being changed.--_adj._ CHANGE'ABLE, subject or prone to change: fickle: inconstant.--_adv._ CHANGE'ABLY.--_adj._ CHANGE'FUL, full of change: changeable.--_adv._ CHANGE'FULLY.--_ns._ CHANGE'FULNESS; CHANGE'-HOUSE (_Scot._), a small inn or alehouse.--_adj._ CHANGE'LESS, without change: constant.--_ns._ CHANGE'LING, a child taken or left by the fairies in place of another--usually an under-sized, crabbed child: one apt to change; CHANG'ER, one who changes the form of anything: one employed in changing or discounting money; CHANG'ING-PIECE (_Shak._), a fickle person.--CHANGE COLOUR, to blush or turn pale; CHANGE ONE'S MIND, to form a different opinion; CHANGE ONE'S SELF, to change one's clothes; CHANGE ONE'S TUNE, to change from joy to sorrow: to change one's manner of speaking.--PUT THE CHANGE ON, to delude, trick.--RING THE CHANGES, to go through the various changes in ringing a peal of bells: to go over in every possible order: to pass counterfeit money: to bemuddle a shopman into giving too much change.
[Fr. _changer_--Late L. _cambi[=a]re_--L. _camb[=i]re_, to barter.]
CHANK, changk, CHANK-SHELL, changk'-shel, _n._ the popular name of the shell of several species of Turbinella, a genus of Gasteropod molluscs, natives of the East Indian seas, used as ornaments by Hindu women. [Hind.
_cantch_.]
CHANNEL, chan'el, _n._ the bed of a stream of water: the deeper part of a strait, bay, or harbour: a strait or narrow sea: a groove or furrow: means of passing or conveying: (_Scot._) gravel.--_v.t._ to make a channel: to furrow: to convey.--_p.adj._ CHANN'ELLED.--THE CHANNEL, the English Channel. [O. Fr. _chanel_, _canel_--L. _canalis_, a canal.]
CHANNEL, chan'el, _n._ a flat piece of wood or iron projecting horizontally from a ship's side to spread the shrouds and keep them clear of the bulwarks--_fore_, _main_, and _mizzen channels_. [Corr. of _Chain-wale_.
Cf. GUNNEL.]
CHANSON, shan'son, _n._ a song.--_n._ CHAN'SONETTE. [Fr.]
CHANT, chant, _v.t._ to sing: to celebrate in song: to recite in a singing manner: to sell horses fraudulently.--_n._ song: melody: a kind of sacred music, in which prose is sung.--_ns._ CHANT'ER, CHANT'OR, a singer: a precentor: in a bagpipe, the pipe with finger-holes, on which the melody is played: one who cries up horses; CHANT'RESS; CHANT'RY, an endowment, or chapel, for the chanting of masses; CHANT'Y, a sailor's song, usually with a drawling refrain, sung in concert while raising the anchor, &c. [Fr.
_chanter_--L. _cant[=a]re_, _can[)e]re_, to sing.]
CHANTAGE, shan-taj', chant'[=a]j, _n._ extortion of money by threats of scandalous revelations. [Fr.]
CHANTERELLE, shan-ter-el', _n._ the highest string of the violin, &c.: a yellowish edible mushroom. [Fr.]
CHANTICLEER, chant'i-kl[=e]r, _n._ a cock. [From the name of the cock in the old beast-epic of Reynard the Fox.] [O. Fr. _chanter_, to sing, _cler_, clear.]
CHAOS, k[=a]'os, _n._ shapeless mass: disorder: the state of matter before it was reduced to order by the Creator.--_adj._ CHAOT'IC, confused.--_adv._ CHAOT'ICALLY. [Gr.]
CHAP, chap, _v.i._ to crack: to strike, of a clock, &c.: to knock at a door.--_v.t._ to fissure.--_n._ crack: an open fissure in the skin, caused by exposure to frost: a knock.--_adj._ CHAP'LESS.--_p.adj._ CHAPPED, cracked, of a heavy soil in dry weather, or of the skin in frost: cut short.--_adj._ CHAP'PY. [M. E. _chappen_; cog. with Dut. and Ger.
_kappen_.]
CHAP, chap, _n._ a fellow, originally a customer, from CHAPMAN.--_n._ CHAP'PIE, a familiar diminutive.
CHAP, chap, _n._ generally _pl._ the jaws.--_adj._ CHAP'FALL'EN, a variant of Chop-fallen (q.v.). [Northern Eng. and Scot. _chafts_--Scand., as Ice.
_kjaptr_, the jaw.]
CHAPARRAL, chap-a-ral', _n._ dense tangled brushwood. [Sp., prob. Basque _achaparra_.]
CHAP-BOOK. See CHAPMAN.
CHAPE, ch[=a]p, _n._ the plate of metal at the point of a scabbard: the catch or hook by which the sheath of a weapon was attached to the belt.--_adj._ CHAPE'LESS. [Fr.,--Low L. _capa_, a cap.]
CHAPEAU, sha-p[=o]', _n._ a hat. [Fr.]
CHAPEL, chap'el, _n._ a place of worship inferior or subordinate to a regular church, or attached to a palace, garrison, prison, school, college, &c.: an oratory in a mausoleum, &c., or a cell of a church containing its own altar: a dissenters' place of worship, as of Nonconformists in England, Roman Catholics or Episcopalians in Scotland, &c.: a chapel service--hence 'to keep one's chapels'--to make the requisite number of attendances at such: an association of workmen in a printing-office.--_n._ CHAP'ELRY, the jurisdiction of a chapel.--CHAPEL CART (see CART).--CHAPEL OF EASE, a chapel for worshippers far from the parish church; CHAPEL ROYAL, the oratory of a royal palace; LADY CHAPEL, such a chapel dedicated to the Virgin; PROPRIETARY CHAPEL, one that is the property of a private person or persons. [O. Fr. _capele_--Low L. _cappella_, dim. of _cappa_, a cloak or cope; orig. from the cloak of St Martin.]