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Glite Dictionary
to take the chair

to take the chair

3 5.6
Lead a meeting as the person in charge
  • idiom
  • UK
translation icon : presidir
  • I am excited to take the chair at the conference next week.
  • Here, take the chair

Examples

  • Will you take the chair, please?

    Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

  • Sir Paul Spruce took the chair, an urbane and experienced bureaucrat with the rank of Assistant Permanent Secretary to the Cabinet.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • you should have let him take the chair.

    Brooklyn Rules (2007)

  • I am to take the chair.

    Peterloo (2018)

  • If you know something I don't, get up here and take the chair!

    Pitch Black (2000)

  • So the motion before the House, the question is that Sir Lindsay Hoyle takes the Chair of this House as Speaker.

  • Will you take the chair, please, so we can start the meeting?

  • During the committee meeting, she was asked to take the chair and lead the discussion.

Synonyms

to preside
vsto take the chair
  • Formal
131 5.6

To be in charge of a formal meeting or group

assumes the meeting leader role temporarily instead of long authority
to chair
vsto take the chair
64 4.8

To lead a meeting or committee

assumes that leadership role for a meeting rather than simply acting
to moderate
vsto take the chair
39 5.3

To lead a discussion and keep it orderly

assumes official leader role rather than only guiding discussion flow
to take the con
vsto take the chair
1 7.9

To lead a meeting or discussion

assumes formal meeting leadership rather than informal control or prompting

Antonyms

to resign
  • Formal
533 3.7

Leave a job or office by giving notice

to withdraw
466 2.8

To stop taking part in a place or activity

How Leading

to take the chair
  • UK
3 5.6
to preside
  • Formal
131 5.6

Surface Forms

take the chair infinitive
taking the chair present participle
takes the chair third person singular
took the chair past
taken the chair past participle

Morphology

take + the + chair

The meaning 'to assume the role of leader' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'take' (to assume a duty or position) with 'chair' (the presiding officer); a learner who knows those constituent senses can infer the MWE. The article 'the' is purely functional and this take + chair/presidency pattern is cross-linguistically common, supporting a transparent rating.

Etymology

One popular story says the phrase take the chair comes from meetings where the leader sat in a special chair at the head of the table, and someone who 'took' that seat became the person in charge. So, take the chair now means 'to lead' a meeting or 'be in charge'.