hold court; sit in meditation; attend shop or clinic
Meanings
3 senses · 10 examplesverb
(of officials in former times) to hold court; to try cases in the courtroom
archaicRefers to the traditional practice of magistrates hearing cases in the official hall. Now largely historical or literary usage.
The county magistrate held court to hear the case.
Justice Bao held court, enforcing the law with impartiality.
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In olden times, officials held court daily to conduct affairs.
verb
(Buddhism) to sit in meditation in the meditation hall; to practice zazen
technicalA specific Buddhist practice of seated meditation performed in the meditation hall (禅堂).
Monks practice spiritual cultivation by sitting in meditation in the meditation hall.
Every morning at dawn, the monks enter the hall to sit in meditation.
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Sitting in the meditation hall is an important practice method in Zen Buddhism.
verb
(of shop assistants) to attend to customers in the shop; (of doctors in TCM pharmacies) to see patients in the dispensary
neutralRefers specifically to shop assistants serving customers in the shop area, or doctors (especially in traditional Chinese medicine pharmacies) seeing patients on the premises.
Doctor Wang is seeing patients at the pharmacy today.
This traditional Chinese medicine pharmacy has a famous doctor on duty seeing patients.
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The shop assistant attends to customers in the shop, selling goods and warmly receiving patrons.
Clinic-side doctors were a type of business model for pharmacies in olden times.