a game in which the players march to music around empty chairs (always one fewer than the number of players) and rush to sit down each time the music stops: the player with no seat is eliminated in each round
See musical chairs in American Heritage Dictionary 4
plural noun(used with a sing. verb)
A game in which players walk to music around a group of chairs containing one chair fewer than the number of players and rush to sit down when the music stops. The player left standing in each round is eliminated.
Informal A rearrangement, as of the elements of a problem, having little practical influence or significance.