seat

Universal Words noun, verb noun place to sit 1 a place where you can sit, for example a chair: She sat back in her seat. * He put his shopping on the seat behind him. * Please take a seat (= sit down). * a window / corner seat (= one near a window / in a corner) * a child seat (= for a child in a car) * We used the branch of an old tree as a seat. * We all filed back to our seats in silence. seealsoBACKSEAT, BUCKETSEAT, HOTSEAT, LOVESEAT -seater 2 (in nouns and adjectives) with the number of seats mentioned: (BrE) a ten-seater minibus * an all-seater stadium (= in which nobody is allowed to stand) part of chair 3 the part of a chair, etc. on which you actually sit: a steel chair with a plastic seat in plane / train / theatre 4 a place where you pay to sit in a plane, train, theatre, etc: to book / reserve a seat (= for a concert, etc.) * There are no seats left on that flight. official position 5 an official position as a member of a parliament, council, committee, etc: a seat on the city council / in Parliament / in Congress * to win / lose a seat (= in an election) * (BrE) to take your seat (= to begin your duties, especially in Parliament) * The majority of seats on the board will be held by business representatives. seealsoSAFESEAT town / city 6 ~ of sth (formal) a place where people are involved in a particular activity, especially a city that has a university or the offices of a government: Washington is the seat of government of the US. * a university town renowned as a seat of learning country house 7 (also country seat) (both BrE) a large house in the country, that belongs to a member of the upper class: the family seat in Norfolk part of body 8 (especially formal) the part of the body on which a person sits SYNBUTTOCKS part of trousers / pants 9 the part of a pair of trousers/pants that covers a person's seat IDIOMS (fly) by the seat of your pants to act without careful thought and without a plan that you have made in advance, hoping that you will be lucky and be successful be in the driving seat (BrE) (AmE be in the driver's seat) to be the person in control of a situation moreatBACKSEAT, BUMn., EDGEn. verb [VN] sit down 1 ~ (yourself) (formal) to give sb a place to sit; to sit down in a place: Please wait to be seated (= in a restaurant, etc.). * Please be seated (= sit down). * He seated himself behind the desk. * Please remain seated until the aircraft has come to a halt. * The bus can carry 42 seated passengers. of building / vehicle 2 to have enough seats for a particular number of people: The aircraft seats 200 passengers. * The auditorium can seat an audience of 5000.