*hamb*

n. [ Ultimately fr. Ar. al the + hamrā red; i. e., the red (sc. house). ] The palace of the Moorish kings at Granada. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } a. Made or decorated after the fanciful style of the ornamentation in the Alhambra, which affords an unusually fine exhibition of Saracenic or Arabesque architecture. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. antichambre. ] 1. A chamber or apartment before the chief apartment and leading into it, in which persons wait for audience; an outer chamber. See Lobby. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A space viewed as the outer chamber or the entrance to an interior part. [ 1913 Webster ]

The mouth, the antechamber to the digestive canal. Todd & Bowman. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Obs. ] See Antechamber. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. G. erzkämmerer. See Arch-, pref. ] A chief chamberlain; -- an officer of the old German empire, whose office was similar to that of the great chamberlain in England. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A chamber for a bed; an apartment form sleeping in. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Lords of the bedchamber, eight officers of the royal household, all of noble families, who wait in turn a week each. [ Eng. ] --
Ladies of the bedchamber, eight ladies, all titled, holding a similar official position in the royal household, during the reign of a queen. [ Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

A sweet and juicy variety of European grape, of a dark purplish black color, much grown under glass in northern latitudes. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. The nuptial apartment. Matt. ix. 15. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. chambre, fr. L. camera vault, arched roof, in LL. chamber, fr. Gr. &unr_; anything with a vaulted roof or arched covering; cf. Skr. kmar to be crooked. Cf. Camber, Camera, Comrade. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A retired room, esp. an upper room used for sleeping; a bedroom; as, the house had four chambers. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. pl. Apartments in a lodging house. “A bachelor's life in chambers.” Thackeray. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A hall, as where a king gives audience, or a deliberative body or assembly meets; as, presence chamber; senate chamber. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A legislative or judicial body; an assembly; a society or association; as, the Chamber of Deputies; the Chamber of Commerce. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A compartment or cell; an inclosed space or cavity; as, the chamber of a canal lock; the chamber of a furnace; the chamber of the eye. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. pl. (Law.) A room or rooms where a lawyer transacts business; a room or rooms where a judge transacts such official business as may be done out of court. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. A chamber pot. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

8. (Mil.) (a) That part of the bore of a piece of ordnance which holds the charge, esp. when of different diameter from the rest of the bore; -- formerly, in guns, made smaller than the bore, but now larger, esp. in breech-loading guns. (b) A cavity in a mine, usually of a cubical form, to contain the powder. (c) A short piece of ordnance or cannon, which stood on its breech, without any carriage, formerly used chiefly for rejoicings and theatrical cannonades. [ 1913 Webster ]

Air chamber. See Air chamber, in the Vocabulary. --
Chamber of commerce, a board or association to protect the interests of commerce, chosen from among the merchants and traders of a city. --
Chamber council, a secret council. Shak. --
Chamber counsel or
Chamber counselor, a counselor who gives his opinion in private, or at his chambers, but does not advocate causes in court. --
Chamber fellow, a chamber companion; a roommate; a chum. --
Chamber hangings, tapestry or hangings for a chamber. --
Chamber lye, urine. Shak. --
Chamber music, vocal or instrumental music adapted to performance in a chamber or small apartment or audience room, instead of a theater, concert hall, or church. --
Chamber practice (Law.), the practice of counselors at law, who give their opinions in private, but do not appear in court. --
To sit at chambers, to do business in chambers, as a judge. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Chambered p. pr. & vb. n. Chambering. ] 1. To reside in or occupy a chamber or chambers. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To be lascivious. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To shut up, as in a chamber. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To furnish with a chamber; as, to chamber a gun. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having a chamber or chambers; as, a chambered shell; a chambered gun. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who attends in a chamber; a chambermaid. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A civilian; a carpetmonger. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Lewdness. [ Obs. ] Rom. xiii. 13. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. chamberlain, chambrelencF. chambellon, OHG. chamerling, chamarlinc, G. kämmerling, kammer chamber (fr. L. camera) + -ling. See Chamber, and -ling. ] [ Formerly written chamberlin. ] 1. An officer or servant who has charge of a chamber or chambers. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An upper servant of an inn. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

3. An officer having the direction and management of the private chambers of a nobleman or monarch; hence, in Europe, one of the high officers of a court. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A treasurer or receiver of public money; as, the chamberlain of London, of North Wales, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

The lord chamberlain of England, an officer of the crown, who waits upon the sovereign on the day of coronation, and provides requisites for the palace of Westminster, and for the House of Lords during the session of Parliament. Under him are the gentleman of the black rod and other officers. His office is distinct from that of the lord chamberlain of the Household, whose functions relate to the royal housekeeping. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Office of a chamberlain. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A maidservant who has the care of chambers, making the beds, sweeping, cleaning the rooms, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A lady's maid. [ Obs. ] Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. A red wine from Chambertin near Dijon, in Burgundy. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ F. ] (Arch.) An ornamental bordering or framelike decoration around the sides and top of a door, window, or fireplace. The top piece is called the traverse and the side pieces the ascendants. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ From Cambrai, France. Cf. Cambric. ] A gingham woven in plain colors with linen finish. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. Same as Gambrel. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Mech.) (a) A space over, or in front of, a boiler furnace where the gases from the fire become more thoroughly mixed and burnt. (b) The clearance space in the cylinder of an internal combustion engine where the charge is compressed and ignited. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. (Music, broadcasting) A room with walls that resonate sound, producing audible echoes; it is used especially to create special sound effects in recording music. [ PJC ]

v. t. [ OE. hamelen to mutilate, AS. hamelian; akin to OHG. hamalōn to mutilate, hamal mutilated, ham mutilated, Icel. hamla to mutilate. Cf. Hamper to fetter. ] To hamstring. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A commercial city of Germany, near the mouth of the Elbe. [ 1913 Webster ]

Black Hamburg grape. See under Black. --
Hamburg edging, a kind of embroidered work done by machinery on cambric or muslin; -- used for trimming. --
Hamburg lake, a purplish crimson pigment resembling cochineal. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Inchambered p. pr. & vb. n. Inchambering. ] [ Pref. in- in + chamber: cf. OF. enchambrer. ] To lodge in a chamber. [ R. ] Sherwood. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ F., lit., a chamber gown. ] A dressing gown, or morning gown. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. schamel a bench, stool, AS. scamel, sceamol, a bench, form, stool, fr. L. scamellum, dim. of scamnum a bench, stool. ] 1. (Mining) One of a succession of niches or platforms, one above another, to hold ore which is thrown successively from platform to platform, and thus raised to a higher level. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. pl. A place where butcher's meat is sold. [ 1913 Webster ]

As summer flies are in the shambles. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. pl. A place for slaughtering animals for meat. [ 1913 Webster ]

To make a shambles of the parliament house. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Shambled p. pr. & vb. n. Shambling ] [ Cf. OD. schampelen to slip, schampen to slip away, escape. Cf. Scamble, Scamper. ] To walk awkwardly and unsteadily, as if the knees were weak; to shuffle along. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Characterized by an awkward, irregular pace; as, a shambling trot; shambling legs. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An awkward, irregular gait. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ So called (as conjectured by Blackstone) from being held in a room at the Exchequer where the chests containing certain Jewish contracts and obligations called starrs (from the Heb. shetar, pron. shtar) were kept; or from the stars with which the ceiling is supposed to have been decorated. ] 1. (Eng. Hist.) An ancient high court exercising jurisdiction in certain cases, mainly criminal, which sat without the intervention of a jury. It consisted of the king's council, or of the privy council only with the addition of certain judges. It could proceed on mere rumor or examine witnesses; it could apply torture. It was abolished by the Long Parliament in 1641. Encyc. Brit. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence: (Metaphorical) Any court, committee, or other tribunal which exercises arbitrary and unaccountable power, or uses unfair or illegal methods, in investigation or judgment of persons. [ PJC ]