theater

1. (countable) A place or building, consisting of a stage and seating, in which an audience gathers to watch plays, musical performances, public ceremonies, and so on.Synonyms: playhouseUScountable

2. (medicine) An operating theatre or locale for human experimentation.Examples: "This man is about to die, get him into theater at once!"UScountableuncountable

3. (US) A cinema.Examples: "We sat in the back row of the theater and threw popcorn at the screen."UScountableuncountable

4. (figurative, derogatory, often following a noun used attributively) A conspicuous but unproductive display of action.Examples: "The Senate confirmation hearings were just theater."; "security theater; hygiene theater"; "ACTA proponents rely on claims of a growing piracy and counterfeiting threat. In the absence of credible evidence of the threat or that the measures in ACTA will reduce the threat, ACTA is no more than enforcement theater."UScountablederogatoryfigurativelyuncountable