vestibule

plural vestibules

1. architectureA small entrance hall, antechamber, passage, or room between the outer door and the main hall, lobby, or interior of a building.First known use the 17th c.

   Near-synonym: foyer

   3 more examples

   Lydia's voice was heard in the vestibule; the door was thrown open, and she ran into the room.

   1813, Jane Austen, chapter 19, in Pride and Prejudice, volume 2

   The purpose of the vestibule, at least in western Europe, was not to provide a resting-place for penitents, but to deaden the noise outside.

   1913, Beda Julius Kleinschmidt, “Vestibule”, in Catholic Encyclopedia

   Some instinct warned Armitage that what was taking place was not a thing for unfortified eyes to see, so he brushed back the crowd with authority as he unlocked the vestibule door.

   1929 April, H. P. Lovecraft, “The Dunwich Horror/Chapter VI”, in Weird Tales

   Synonyms: foyer

   1. architectureA large entrance hall in a temple or palace.

      Synonyms: foyer

   2. architectureAn enclosed entrance at the end of a railway passenger car.

      The exit side of the front vestibule contains a sliding door.

      1912, Electric Railway Journal, volume XL, number 14, page 556

      1 more example

      The units have transverse seats, two and three astride the passageway with single or double longitudinal seats alongside the two entrance vestibules in each car.

      1960 November, “New electric multiple-units for British Railways: Glasgow Suburban”, in Trains Illustrated, page 660

      Synonyms: foyer

2. anatomyAny of a number of body cavities or channels, serving as or resembling an entrance to another bodily space.First known use the 18th c.

   The Vestibule (vestibulum nasi). — The paired vestibule may be considered an antechamber to the nasal fossa.

   1920, Jacob Parsons Schaeffer, The Nose, Paranasal Sinuses, Nasolacrimal Passageways, and Olfactory Organ in Man: A Genetic, Developmental, and Anatomico-physiological Consideration, page 73

   1 more example

   The membrane of the vestibule in this animal is thrown into three folds. The margins of these folds, looking towards the vestibule, are approximated, and, following the law which is now known to regulate the formation of hollow tubes, doubtless unite and coalesce in the next higher species of fish.

   1838, Joseph Garland, “Formation of the Ear”, in The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, volume 17, page 333

   1. anatomyThe central cavity of the bony labyrinth of the inner ear or the parts (such as the saccule and utricle) of the membranous labyrinth that it contains.
   2. anatomyThe part of the left ventricle below the aortic orifice.
   3. anatomyThe part of the mouth outside the teeth and gums.

      The incision of the mucosa over the premaxilla is traced a millimetre or two from the furrow that marks the bottom of the barely-defined vestibule.

      2001, René Malek, Cleft Lip and Palate: Lesions, Pathophysiology and Primary Treatment, page 79

   4. abbreviationclippinganatomyClipping of vulval vestibule: the space in the vulva between the labia minora and into which both the urethra and vagina open.

      She spread her labia further, both sets of lips protecting the vestibule, the delicate area between them.

      2021, Leone Ross, This One Sky Day, Faber & Faber Limited, page 318

present singular third person vestibules · participle present vestibuling · participle past vestibuled · past vestibuled

1. transitiveTo furnish with a vestibule or vestibules.

   the vestibuled platform

   1892, Brander Matthews, In the Vestibule Limited