chair, gender-bending, chair/chairwoman, designate, designees

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chair 

Pronunciation: /tʃɛː/ 

NOUN

1A separate seat for one person, typically with a back and four legs.

Example sentencesSynonyms

1.1(the chair) short for electric chair.

Example sentencesSynonyms

2The person in charge of a meeting or of an organization (used as a neutral alternative to chairman or chairwoman):she’s the chair of a research committee

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2.1The post of a chairperson:he was due to step down after a three-year stint in the chair

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3A professorship:he held a chair in physics

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4chiefly British A metal socket holding a rail in place on a railway sleeper.

VERB

[WITH OBJECT]

1Act as chairperson of or preside over (an organization, meeting, or public event):the debate was chaired by the Archbishop of York

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2British Carry (someone) aloft in a chair or in a sitting position to celebrate a victory:no one seemed anxious to chair him round the hall

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Phrases

take the chair

Act as chairperson:the account executive will usually take the chair in meetings

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Origin

Middle English: from Old French chaiere (modern chaire 'bishop's throne, etc.', chaise 'chair'), from Latin cathedra 'seat', from Greek kathedra. Compare with cathedral.

gender bender

Line breaks: gen¦der bend¦er

Pronunciation: 

  

NOUN

informal

A person who dresses and behaves in a waycharacteristic of the opposite sex.

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Derivatives

gender-bending

ADJECTIVE

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chair = chairwoman or chairman

Bloomberg Columbia Business School AwardsDeming Cup to DuPont Chair & CEO Ellen Kullman GlobeNewswire (press release)

Joe Jackson Makes Bid for Care of Michael's Kids

By Bryan Alexander / Los Angeles

The pop star's will designated his mother, Katherine, as guardian of his three children. But in an ABC interview, his father expresses a wish to join in

Exactly how the administration should handle the automakers' difficulties is up to the president's Task Force on the Auto Industry. That group's designees include financial experts from the Treasury Department. It also includes designees whose focus is largely energy or the environment: Lisa Heinzerling, senior climate policy counsel for the Environmental Protection Agency administrator; Dan Utech, a senior adviser from the Department of Energy; and Heather Zichal, deputy director of the White House Office of Energy and Climate Change.

Earlier this week, premier-designate Liu Chao-shiuan announced that Lai Shin-yuan of the Taiwan Solidarity Union will serve as chairwoman of the Mainland ...



designee
n.
A person who has been designated.



designate
verb [T]
1 to choose someone officially to do a particular job:
Traditionally, the president designates his or her successor.
Thompson has been designated (as/to be) team captain.
She has been designated to organize the meeting.

2 to state officially that a place or thing has a particular character or purpose:
This area of the park has been specially designated for children.
They officially designated the area (as) unsuitable for human habitation.

designate 
adjective [after noun]
used after the title of a particular official job to refer to someone chosen to do that job, but who has not yet started doing it:
the Secretary General/Managing Director designate
Compare -elect at elect.

designation noun
1 [C] an official title or name:
What's her official designation now she's been promoted?

2 [U] when a place or thing is designated:
The area qualifies for designation as a site of special scientific interest.