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VESTIBULE
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I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A large entrance or reception room or area
Synonyms:
antechamber; anteroom; entrance hall; foyer; hall; lobby; vestibule
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("vestibule" is a kind of...):
room (an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "vestibule"):
narthex (a vestibule leading to the nave of a church)
Holonyms ("vestibule" is a part of...):
building; edifice (a structure that has a roof and walls and stands more or less permanently in one place)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Any of various bodily cavities leading to another cavity (as of the ear or vagina)
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("vestibule" is a kind of...):
bodily cavity; cavity; cavum ((anatomy) a natural hollow or sinus within the body)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "vestibule"):
vestibule of the ear (the central cavity of the bony labyrinth of the ear)
vestibule of the vagina (the space between the labia minora containing the orifice of the urethra)
Derivation:
vestibular (relating to the sense of equilibrium)
Context examples:
The part of the pharynx lying below the aperture of the larynx and behind the larynx; it extends from the vestibule of the larynx to the esophagus at the level of the inferior border of the cricoid cartilage.
(Laryngopharynx, NCI Thesaurus)
She was obliged to kneel down by the sofa, and remain there to satisfy her patient; and thus they continued a few minutes, when, to her very great satisfaction, she heard some other person crossing the little vestibule.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
A few dull courts and narrow ways brought us to the sky-lighted offices of Spenlow and Jorkins; in the vestibule of which temple, accessible to pilgrims without the ceremony of knocking, three or four clerks were at work as copyists.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
The organ of hearing: composed of the external ear, which includes the auricle and the external acoustic, or auditory, meatus; the middle ear, or the tympanic cavity with its ossicles; and the internal ear or inner ear, or labyrinth, which includes the semicircular canals, vestibule, and cochlea.
(Murine Ear, NCI Thesaurus)
She was met in the vestibule by Lydia, who, flying to her, cried in a half whisper, I am glad you are come, for there is such fun here!
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
Grant himself went out with an umbrella, there was nothing to be done but to be very much ashamed, and to get into the house as fast as possible; and to poor Miss Crawford, who had just been contemplating the dismal rain in a very desponding state of mind, sighing over the ruin of all her plan of exercise for that morning, and of every chance of seeing a single creature beyond themselves for the next twenty-four hours, the sound of a little bustle at the front door, and the sight of Miss Price dripping with wet in the vestibule, was delightful.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
Elizabeth jumped out; and, after giving each of them a hasty kiss, hurried into the vestibule, where Jane, who came running down from her mother's apartment, immediately met her.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
Mr. Collins was not left long to the silent contemplation of his successful love; for Mrs. Bennet, having dawdled about in the vestibule to watch for the end of the conference, no sooner saw Elizabeth open the door and with quick step pass her towards the staircase, than she entered the breakfast-room, and congratulated both him and herself in warm terms on the happy prospect of their nearer connection.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
They ran through the vestibule into the breakfast-room; from thence to the library; their father was in neither; and they were on the point of seeking him up stairs with their mother, when they were met by the butler, who said: If you are looking for my master, ma'am, he is walking towards the little copse.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
He went out to the open vestibule and sat down on a folding-chair, and the station slid away and the backs of unfamiliar buildings moved by.
(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)
