Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of various light open carriages, often with a collapsible hood, especially a two-wheeled carriage drawn by one horse.
  • noun A post chaise.
  • noun A chaise longue.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Properly, a two-wheeled carriage for two persons, drawn by one horse, and generally furnished with a hood or top that may be let down. In dialectal speech often shay.
  • noun A four-wheeled pleasure-carriage drawn by two or more horses.
  • noun A French gold coin first issued by Louis IX. in the thirteenth century.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A two-wheeled carriage for two persons, with a calash top, and the body hung on leather straps, or thorough-braces. It is usually drawn by one horse.
  • noun a carriage in general.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun An open, horse-drawn carriage for one or two people, usually with one horse and two wheels.
  • noun A chaise longue.
  • noun A post chaise.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a long chair; for reclining
  • noun a carriage consisting of two wheels and a calash top; drawn by a single horse

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, chair, variant of Old French chaiere; see chair.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French chaise.

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Examples

  • Once I had a very young copy editor change the term chaise longue, in a text of mine, to the commonly used "chaise lounge."

    The Globe and Mail - Home RSS feed 2009

  • 'I thought you called the chaise yours,' said I. 'That's my way of speaking,' said the man; 'but the chaise is my master's, and a better master does not live.

    Lavengro; the Scholar, the Gypsy, the Priest George Henry Borrow 1842

  • She was charmed to find your opinion agreed with her own, and settled that we should go to town to-morrow morning: and a chaise is actually ordered to be here by one o'clock.

    Evelina: or, The History of a Young Lady's Entrance Into the World 1778

  • I am going to Temple's, and the chaise is at the door.

    The History of Emily Montague 1769

  • xiEnglish-speakers did the same thing to the French word longue when, in the early nineteenth century, they heard it as the unrelated word lounge to form the phrase chaise lounge.

    The English Is Coming! Leslie Dunton-Downer 2010

  • xiEnglish-speakers did the same thing to the French word longue when, in the early nineteenth century, they heard it as the unrelated word lounge to form the phrase chaise lounge.

    The English Is Coming! Leslie Dunton-Downer 2010

  • As you can see from the pictures attached below the Calla Chair can be transformed in chaise lounge by suitables joints arranging the arms overall opening as well as different positions in very good comfort.

    Dragonfly Lounge and Swivel Chair Combination 2009

  • The reading chaise is all put together and I have had the chance to try it out.

    The Chaise Verdict « So Many Books 2005

  • 'I was told – I was assured –' said Bellamy, 'that a mad bull was running wild about the country; and I thought it, therefore, advisable to send for a chaise from the nearest inn, that I might return this young lady to her friends.'

    Camilla: or, A Picture of Youth 1796

  • Chance gives me an opportunity of forwarding this by New York; I write whilst my chaise is getting ready.

    The History of Emily Montague 1769

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