Vestry
['vestrɪ] or ['vɛstri]
Definition
(noun.) a room in a church where sacred vessels and vestments are kept or meetings are held.
(noun.) in the Protestant Episcopal Church: a committee elected by the congregation to work with the churchwardens in managing the temporal affairs of the church.
Checker: Quincy--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) A room appendant to a church, in which sacerdotal vestments and sacred utensils are sometimes kept, and where meetings for worship or parish business are held; a sacristy; -- formerly called revestiary.
(n.) A parochial assembly; an assembly of persons who manage parochial affairs; -- so called because usually held in a vestry.
(n.) A body, composed of wardens and vestrymen, chosen annually by a parish to manage its temporal concerns.
Edited by Ingram
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. Sacristry, vestry-room.
Editor: Tamara
Definition
n. a room adjoining a church in which the vestments are kept and parochial meetings held any small room attached to a church: in English parishes a meeting of the ratepayers to elect parish officers to assess church-rates and to manage the property of the parish the incumbent acting as chairman.—adj. Ves′tral.—ns. Ves′try-clerk an officer chosen by the vestry who keeps the parish accounts and books; Ves′tryman a member of a vestry.—Select vestry a board consisting of representatives of the ratepayers as opposed to the common vestry or assembly of all the ratepayers.
Typist: Veronica
Examples
- On the second day he found his wife and Sir Percival whispering together quite familiar, close under the vestry of the church. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- The vestry was larger than I should have supposed it to be, judging from the outside only. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- But the position of the original in the vestry was, as I had seen with my own eyes, anything but secure. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- I'm obliged to bring you this way, sir, he said, because the door from the vestry to the church is bolted on the vestry side. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- He's vestry-clerk here now as his father was before him. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- The scene is the Vestry-room of St James's Church, with a number of leathery old registers on shelves, that might be bound in Lady Tippinses. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- The vestry at the back was built out from the church, and seemed to be of the same age. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- The keys of the vestry. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- I am not quite sure that I know what a vestry-clerk is. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- This door also was composed of solid oak, and was bolted at the top and bottom on the vestry side. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- Then they went into the vestry and signed the register. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- I agreed with him that nobody could help the untidiness of the vestry, and then suggested that we should proceed to our business without more delay. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- The vestry was on fire! Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- You'll find a fire in the vestry, on account of the painters. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- Chattering on in this way, he led me back to the vestry. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
Checked by Estes