1. a vertical channel or pipe that conducts smoke and combustion gases up from a fire or furnace and typically through the roof of a building.
▪ the part of a chimney that extends above the roof; a chimney stack.
▪ a glass tube that protects the flame of a lamp.
▪ a steep narrow cleft by which a rock face may be climbed.
Word OriginMiddle English (denoting a fireplace or furnace): from Old French cheminee ‘chimney, fireplace’, from late Latin caminata, perhaps from camera caminata ‘room with a fireplace’, from Latin caminus ‘forge, furnace’, from Greek kaminos ‘oven’.
