Star Chamber Hear it!

Star Chamber definition

Star Chamber

  1. a royal English court or tribunal abolished in 1641, notorious for its secret sessions without jury, and for its harsh and arbitrary judgments and its use of torture to force confessions
  2. any similar tribunal or inquisitorial body

Etymology: ME, earlier Sterred Chambre: said to be so called because the ceiling was ornamented with stars

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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