chess
noun
Simple meaning
One of the platforms, made up of two or more planks dowelled together.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
chehsIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈtʃɛs
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
militarychiefly in the plural
One of the platforms, consisting of two or more planks dowelled together, for the flooring of a temporary military bridge.
A board game for two players, each beginning with sixteen chess pieces moving according to fixed rules across a chessboard with the objective to checkmate the opposing king.
A board game for two players who move their 16 pieces according to specific rules; the object is to checkmate the opponent's king
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: One of the platforms, consisting of two or more planks dowelled together, for the flooring of a temporary military bridge.
Used this way, chess is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a military use: it belongs to service and operational language.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Military
- Historical writing
- News/reporting
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use chess
- “My friend taught me how to play chess last weekend.”
Share your sentence
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: one of the platforms or consisting of two
Use This Word
See how this word sounds in a real sentence.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “chess” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.