A chimney is a pipe through which smoke goes up into the air, usually through the roof of a building.
This gas fire doesn't need a chimney.
chimney in British English
(ˈtʃɪmnɪ)
noun
1.
a vertical structure of brick, masonry, or steel that carries smoke or steam away from a fire, engine, etc
2. another name for flue1 (sense 1)
3. short for chimney stack
4.
an open-ended glass tube fitting around the flame of an oil or gas lamp in order to exclude draughts
5. British
a fireplace, esp an old and large one
6. geology
a.
a cylindrical body of an ore, which is usually oriented vertically
b.
the vent of a volcano
7. mountaineering
a vertical fissure large enough for a person's body to enter
8.
anything resembling a chimney in shape or function
Word origin
C14: from Old French cheminée, from Late Latin camīnāta, from Latin camīnus furnace, from Greek kaminos fireplace, oven
chimney in American English
(ˈtʃɪmni)
nounWord forms: pluralˈchimneys
1.
the passage through which smoke or fumes from a fire escape; flue
2.
a structure containing a flue or flues and extending above the roof of a building
3.
a glass tube set around the flame of a candle or lamp
4.
something like a chimney
; specif.,
a.
a narrow column of rock formed by erosion, esp. that caused by waves
b. US
a vertical body of ore
c.
the vent of a volcano or cave
5. Chiefly British
a smokestack
6. Dialectal
a hearth
Word origin
ME chimene, a fireplace < OFr cheminée < LL caminata, fireplace < L caminus, furnace, flue < Gr kaminos, oven, fireplace; ult. < ? IE base *kam, to arch > camera
Examples of 'chimney' in a sentence
chimney
A much-needed injection of fun from the man who once added a chimney that blows smoke rings to a recycling plant.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
Smoke rises from chimneys.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Some of the streets are strewn with tiles from roofs and chimney pots.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
In the attic we peered down a large inverse chimney with a hole at the bottom.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
You used to smoke like a chimney.
Patrick O'Brian Richard Temple
He ripped roof tiles and chimney bricks from the house and hurled them at cars and cops.
The Sun (2006)
Make sure your roof and chimney are well maintained.
The Sun (2013)
From the church gardens there are views over the terraced roofs and chimneys of the city.
Brines, Callum Collins Traveller - The Algarve (1993)
It had a heavy pierced stand with a glass reservoir for the oil and a chased glass globe on the chimney glass.
Max Arthur Lost Voices of the Edwardians: 19011910 in the words of the Men & Women Who WereThere (2006)
There was another time when a chimney stack caught fire, and that was ghastly.
The Sun (2013)
All around Cornwall there are old chimneys.
Richard Fortey THE EARTH: An Intimate History (2004)
All it's missing is an open fire and a chimney.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
At one time Patty came to say she thought the kitchen chimney wanted sweeping.
Jane Austen Emma (1815)
As we talk, she rolls her own cigarettes and blows the smoke up the chimney above the empty fireplace.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
The plain red-brick chimney of the old mill came as a relief to the eye after so much beautiful gold stone.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Did I ask to be set to sweep your foul chimneys?
Charles Kingsley The Water Babies (1863)
All the chimneys and fireplaces were revived, too, while a radical programme of insulation was undertaken throughout.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Little of the hospital, which was built mostly from wood, remained beyond its concrete foundations and a brick chimney.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
In other languages
chimney
British English: chimney /ˈtʃɪmnɪ/ NOUN
A chimney is a pipe above a fireplace or furnace through which smoke can go up into the air.
This gas fire doesn't need a chimney.
American English: chimney
Arabic: مَدْخَنَة
Brazilian Portuguese: chaminé
Chinese: 烟囱
Croatian: dimnjak
Czech: komín
Danish: skorsten
Dutch: schoorsteen
European Spanish: chimenea casa
Finnish: savupiippu
French: cheminée
German: Schornstein
Greek: καμινάδα
Italian: camino
Japanese: 煙突
Korean: 굴뚝
Norwegian: skorstein
Polish: komin
European Portuguese: chaminé
Romanian: coș de fum
Russian: дымовая труба
Latin American Spanish: chimenea
Swedish: skorsten
Thai: ปล่องไฟ
Turkish: baca
Ukrainian: димар
Vietnamese: ống khói
All related terms of 'chimney'
chimney pot
A chimney pot is a short pipe which is fixed on top of a chimney.
chimney piece
→ mantelpiece
chimney stack
A chimney stack is the brick or stone part of a chimney that is above the roof of a building.
chimney sweep
A chimney sweep is a person whose job is to clean the soot out of chimneys.
chimney swift
a North American swift , Chaetura pelagica, that nests in chimneys and similar hollows
lamp chimney
a glass tube that surrounds the wick in an oil lamp
chimney breast
A chimney breast is the part of a wall in a room which is built out round a chimney.
chimney corner
a recess that contains a seat in a large open fireplace ; inglenook
chimney swallow
another name for common swallow
factory chimney
a tall chimney of a factory
chimney-climbing
the sport of climbing a vertical fissure large enough for a person's body to enter