Dictionary

chairback en · NOUN

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *ḱe? Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Indo-European *ḱm̥-th₂der.? Proto-Hellenic *kətá Ancient Greek κατά (katá) Proto-Indo-European *sed-der. Proto-Indo-European *sedreh₂ Proto-Hellenic *hédrā Ancient Greek ἕδρα (hédra) Ancient Greek κᾰθέδρᾱ (kăthédrā)bor. Latin cathedrader. Old French chaierebor. Middle English chayere English chair Proto-Indo-European *bʰeg-der.? Proto-Germanic *baką Proto-West Germanic *bak Old English bæc Middle English bak English back English chairback From chair + back.

Meanings

1. The rear part of a chair that supports the sitter's back.
   • Hair-brushes were arranged carefully on wither side of a clean comb, and a pair of recently pressed trousers lay over a chair-back. 1956, Anthony Burgess, Time for a Tiger (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 176:
   • A new playing surface, a renovated seating bowl with 800 chairback seats, and enhanced ticketing and lobby areas are among the changes expected for the 2008-9 season. 2008 April 10, The Associated Press, “St. John’s to Renovate Arena”, in New York Times:
   • Podson said nothing to that, but he undressed to examine his shirt and collar, and assure himself that they were still in presentable condition. He hung his coat over a chair-back and folded the crease in his pants for pressure under his mattress. 1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 191:
   • Nevertheless, the first thing I did after assuring myself that there were indeed no malicious persons or things lurking under the bed or elsewhere was to slip a chair-back under the door handle. 1951, John Wyndham, The Day of the Triffids, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, published 1954, page 15:

Forms