seat saving
Claiming empty chairs
Seat saving is the practice of claiming seats for people who aren't present yet—dropping a jacket on a chair, spreading belongings across several spots, or simply announcing these seats are taken.
The practice is common in theaters, cafeterias, and lecture halls, and ranges from accepted courtesy among friends to contentious space-hoarding depending on context and duration.
- reservingSetting something aside beforehand
- holdingMaintaining physical possession
- placeholderTemporary position marker
- takenOccupied or seized
- occupiedCurrently in use
jacket · bag · purse · theater · movie theater · stadium · sports arena · church · pew · bench · claiming · dibs · first come first served · etiquette · rude · contested · social etiquette · unwritten rules
seat savingfirst-come-first-served
Priority by arrival order
open seating · general admission · queuing · festival seating · standing room
seat, save, seats, seated, seating, seater, unseated, saves, saved