Chamber

\Cham"ber\, n. [F. chambre, fr. L. camera vault, arched roof, in LL. chamber, fr. Gr. kamarâ, anything with a vaulted roof or arched covering; cf. Skr. kmar to be crooked.

A natural or artificial enclosed space.

A room where a person of authority, rank or importance receives visitors.

A hall, as where a king gives audience, or a deliberative body or assembly meets; as, presence chamber; senate chamber.

A compartment in a firearm, as in the breech of a rifle or the cylinder of a revolver, that holds the cartridge in readiness for firing.

A compartment or cell; an enclosed space or cavity; as, the chamber of a canal lock; the chamber of a furnace; the chamber of the eye, the chambers of the heart.

"on the wall," which the Shunammite prepared for the prophet Elisha (2 Kings 4:10), was an upper chamber over the porch through the hall toward the street. This was the "guest chamber" where entertainments were prepared (Mark 14:14).

There were also "chambers within chambers" (1 Kings 22:25; 2 Kings 9:2).

To enter into a chamber is used metaphorically of prayer and communion with God (Isa. 26:20).

The "chambers of the south" (Job 9:9) are probably the constellations of the southern hemisphere.

The "chambers of imagery", i.e., chambers painted with images, as used by Ezekiel (8:12), is an expression denoting the vision the prophet had of the abominations practised by the Jews in Jerusalem.