seat

I UK [siːt] / US [sɪt] noun
Word forms "seat":
singular seat plural seats
***

1)

a) [countable] something you can sit on

Some of the vans have leather seats.

The seat next to me was empty.

He was in the back seat of the car when the accident happened.

b) [countable, usually singular] the part of a chair that you sit on

The broken seat of the chair was replaced.

••

See:

passenger seat, window seat

2) [countable] a seat as a passenger on a plane, bus etc or as a member of the audience in a theatre, which you pay for in order to use

I managed to get us the best seats in the theatre.

We tried to get on the Friday flight, but there were no seats left.

3) [countable] a position as a member of a parliament, committee, court etc

seat in:

The Green Party won four seats in the new parliament.

seat on:

a permanent seat on the UN Security Council

•

Collocations:
Verbs frequently used with seat as the object ▪  gain, hold, lose, retain, secure, take, win

4)

a) [countable, usually singular] the place where an organization has its main building, or where an important activity happens

seat of:

The Hague is the seat of the Dutch Government.

She spoke of Oxford, that ancient seat of learning.

b) a large house in the countryside that belongs to an important family

The Duke's family seat is at Alnwick Castle in Northumberland.

5) [countable, usually singular] the part of a piece of clothing that covers your bottom

Sandy stood up and dusted off the seat of his shorts.

6) [singular] the position in which someone sits on a horse

•

(flying) by the seat of your pants — using only your judgment and skill, when you are doing something new and you cannot use your previous experience

We started the business in 1996, and for the first couple of years we were flying by the seat of our pants.

- a seat at the table

- take a seat

- take your seat

See:

back seat, bum I, edge I, the hot seat

II UK [siːt] / US [sɪt] verb
Word forms "seat":
present tense I/you/we/they seat he/she/it seats present participle seating past tense seated past participle seated
**

1) [transitive] formal to put someone or yourself in a seat somewhere

seat someone in/next to/behind etc someone/something:

He seated himself behind his desk.

The general seated them to his right.

2) [transitive] to have places for a particular number of people to sit

The new stadium will seat up to 80,000 people.

3) [transitive] to provide someone with a position as a member of a parliament, committee etc

The state's youngest delegate to the convention was seated today.

4) [intransitive/transitive] to fit one part of something firmly into another

The gasket failed to seat properly.

•

remain/stay seated — to stay sitting down

Please remain seated until the plane has come to a complete stop.

- be seated