The Collaborative International Dictionary
Senate \Sen"ate\, n. [OE. senat, F. s['e]nat, fr. L. senatus, fr. senex, gen. senis, old, an old man. See Senior, Sir.]
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An assembly or council having the highest deliberative and legislative functions. Specifically:
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(Anc. Rom.) A body of elders appointed or elected from among the nobles of the nation, and having supreme legislative authority.
The senate was thus the medium through which all affairs of the whole government had to pass.
--Dr. W. Smith. The upper and less numerous branch of a legislature in various countries, as in France, in the United States, in most of the separate States of the United States, and in some Swiss cantons.
In general, a legislative body; a state council; the legislative department of government.
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The governing body of the Universities of Cambridge and London. [Eng.]
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In some American colleges, a council of elected students, presided over by the president of the college, to which are referred cases of discipline and matters of general concern affecting the students. [U. S.]
Senate chamber, a room where a senate meets when it transacts business.
Senate house, a house where a senate meets when it transacts business.
Usage examples of "senate chamber".
Jefferson said famously in his inaugural address before a full Senate Chamber, his voice so soft many had difficulty hearing him.
I wrote a note and hid it in the Senate chamber, saying I'd be back one day.
Then David wandered over to the Capitol's north side, where, to his surprise, a pair of long wooden walls had been built between the plaza and the entrance to the Senate chamber.
By tradition the Kings of Sparta were guarded only by Senators when they entered the Senate chamber, and they entered only by permission, not as a matter of right.
The last time she had gone into a Senate Chamber dressed like this, she had been worried about the petty backbiting of the senators.
Anyway, make yourself heard beyond the Senate Chamber, just on the chance He is Up There listening.
At the frosted glass doors to the Senate Chamber, he paused to straighten tie, arrange hair.
In the opposite wall several swinging doors opened onto what, I soon realized, was the Senate chamber.
The Senate Chamber is Palpatine's stage, and he takes advantage of everything it has to offer in order to drive his points home.
When they reached the Senate chamber, he had cause to wonder anew.