What does chimney mean?
A chimney is a vertical structure — usually built of brick, stone, or metal — designed to vent smoke and hot gases from a fireplace, stove, or furnace safely out of a building. Its effectiveness relies on draught: warm air rising through the flue draws fresh air into the fire below. The word covers both the visible stack rising above the roofline and the internal passage itself, and by extension anything shaped or functioning similarly, such as a lamp chimney or an industrial smokestack. Chimneys carry strong cultural associations with hearth and home, winter warmth, and figures like Father Christmas making his legendary rooftop descent. Related expressions include "chimney sweep," the trade of cleaning soot from flues, and the idiom "to smoke like a chimney." The term remains everyday vocabulary across the English-speaking world, equally at home in architectural writing and casual conversation.
nounA vertical structure, typically of brick or stone, that channels smoke and gases from a fire or furnace out of a building through the roof. It also refers to the passage or flue within such a structure.
- The masonry structure on a roof that carries smoke and combustion gases away from a fireplace or furnace.
- The internal passage or flue through which smoke travels.
- Something resembling a chimney in shape or function, such as a glass tube protecting a lamp flame or a narrow rock formation.
"Smoke curled lazily from the cottage chimney as snow settled on the rooftops."
"The old chimney needed repointing after years of frost damage."
"From the ridge we could see factory chimneys lining the horizon."
Regular plural formed by adding -s.
"The skyline was dotted with the brick chimneys of Victorian terraced houses."
Santa Claus enters houses through the chimney thanks to Clement Clarke Moore's 1823 poem 'A Visit from St. Nicholas' — before that, the tradition of a chimney-descending gift-giver barely existed.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of chimney
The word "chimney" comes from Middle English "chimenee," borrowed from Old French "cheminée," which derives from Late Latin "caminata" meaning a room with a fireplace, ultimately rooted in "caminus" (a furnace or hearth), itself adopted from Greek "kaminos." The term entered English around the Middle Ages as domestic fireplaces and their flues became common features of homes. Cognates appear across Europe, including German "Kamin," French "cheminée," Italian "camino," and Spanish "chimenea," all tracing back to the same classical root.
How chimney is actually used
"Smoke like a chimney" is a well-established idiom for someone who smokes heavily. In British English, "chimney pot" refers specifically to the cylindrical terminal fitted atop a chimney stack. The plural is regular.