from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Vestibule \Ves"ti*bule\, n. [L. vestibulum, of uncertain origin:
cf. F. vestibule.]
The porch or entrance into a house; a hall or antechamber
next the entrance; a lobby; a porch; a hall.
[1913 Webster]
{Vestibule of the ear}. (Anat.) See under {Ear}.
{Vestibule of the vulva} (Anat.), a triangular space between
the nymphae, in which the orifice of the urethra is
situated.
{Vestibule train} (Railroads), a train of passenger cars
having the space between the end doors of adjacent cars
inclosed, so as to admit of leaving the doors open to
provide for intercommunication between all the cars.
[1913 Webster]
Syn: Hall; passage.
Usage: {Vestibule}, {Hall}, {Passage}. A vestibule is a small
apartment within the doors of a building. A hall is
the first large apartment beyond the vestibule, and,
in the United States, is often long and narrow,
serving as a passage to the several apartments. In
England, the hall is generally square or oblong, and a
long, narrow space of entrance is called a passage,
not a hall, as in America. Vestibule is often used in
a figurative sense to denote a place of entrance. "The
citizens of Rome placed the images of their ancestors
in the vestibules of their houses." --Bolingbroke
[1913 Webster]