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The Gutenberg Webster's Unabridged Dictionary: Section C · Project Gutenberg — chapter 170 of 743 · ~796 words · public domain

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Cha`peau" (?), n.; pl. Chapeux (#). [F., fr. OF. chapel hat. See Chaplet.] 1. A hat or covering for the head.

2. (Her.) A cap of maintenance. See Maintenance.

||Chapeau bras (&?;) [F. chapeau hat + bras arm], a hat so made that it can be compressed and carried under the arm without injury. Such hats were particularly worn on dress occasions by gentlemen in the 18th century. A chapeau bras is now worn in the United States army by general and staff officers.

Chaped (?), p. p. or a. Furnished with a chape or chapes. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Chap"el (?), n. [OF. chapele, F. chapelle, fr. LL. capella, orig., a short cloak, hood, or cowl; later, a reliquary, sacred vessel, chapel; dim. of cappa, capa, cloak, cape, cope; also, a covering for the head. The chapel where St. Martin's cloak was preserved as a precious relic, itself came to be called capella, whence the name was applied to similar paces of worship, and the guardian of this cloak was called capellanus, or chaplain. See Cap, and cf. Chaplain., Chaplet.] 1. A subordinate place of worship; as, (a) a small church, often a private foundation, as for a memorial; (b) a small building attached to a church; (c) a room or recess in a church, containing an altar.

&fist; In Catholic churches, and also in cathedrals and abbey churches, chapels are usually annexed in the recesses on the sides of the aisles. Gwilt.

2. A place of worship not connected with a church; as, the chapel of a palace, hospital, or prison.

3. In England, a place of worship used by dissenters from the Established Church; a meetinghouse.

4. A choir of singers, or an orchestra, attached to the court of a prince or nobleman.

5. (Print.) (a) A printing office, said to be so called because printing was first carried on in England in a chapel near Westminster Abbey. (b) An association of workmen in a printing office.

Chapel of ease. (a) A chapel or dependent church built for the ease or a accommodation of an increasing parish, or for parishioners who live at a distance from the principal church. (b) A privy. (Law) -- Chapel master, a director of music in a chapel; the director of a court or orchestra. -- To build a chapel (Naut.), to chapel a ship. See Chapel, v. t., 2. -- To hold a chapel, to have a meeting of the men employed in a printing office, for the purpose of considering questions affecting their interests.

Chap"el (?), v. t. 1. To deposit or inter in a chapel; to enshrine. [Obs.] Beau. & Fl.

2. (Naut.) To cause (a ship taken aback in a light breeze) so to turn or make a circuit as to recover, without bracing the yards, the same tack on which she had been sailing.

Chape"less (?), a. Without a chape.

Chap"e*let (?), n. [F. See Chaplet.] 1. A pair of straps, with stirrups, joined at the top and fastened to the pommel or the frame of the saddle, after they have been adjusted to the convenience of the rider. [Written also chaplet.]

2. A kind of chain pump, or dredging machine.

Chap"el*la*ny (?), n.; pl. Chapellanies (#). [Cf. E. chapellenie, LL. capellania. See Chaplain.] A chapel within the jurisdiction of a church; a subordinate ecclesiastical foundation.

Chap"el*ry (?), n. [Cf. OF. chapelerie.] The territorial district legally assigned to a chapel.

Chap"er*on (?), n. [F. chaperon. See Chape, Cape, Cap.] 1. A hood; especially, an ornamental or an official hood.

His head and face covered with a chaperon, out of which there are but two holes to look through. Howell.

2. A device placed on the foreheads of horses which draw the hearse in pompous funerals.

3. A matron who accompanies a young lady in public, for propriety, or as a guide and protector.

Chap"er*on, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Chaperoned (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Chaperoning.] [Cf. F. chaperonner, fr. chaperon.] To attend in public places as a guide and protector; to matronize.

Fortunately Lady Bell Finley, whom I had promised to chaperon, sent to excuse herself. Hannah More.

Chap"er*on`age (?), n. Attendance of a chaperon on a lady in public; protection afforded by a chaperon.

Chap"fall`en (?), a. Having the lower chap or jaw drooping, -- an indication of humiliation and dejection; crestfallen; discouraged. See Chopfallen.

Chap"i*ter (?), n. [OF. chapitel, F. chapiteau, from L. capitellum, dim. of caput head. Cf. Capital, Chapter.] 1. (Arch.) A capital [Obs.] See Chapital. Ex. xxxvi. 38.

2. (Old Eng. Law) A summary in writing of such matters as are to be inquired of or presented before justices in eyre, or justices of assize, or of the peace, in their sessions; -- also called articles. Jacob.

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