Chassis

ALSO CALLED: Chasses
DEFINITION: A chassis (pronounced TCHA-see or CHA-see) is the physical frame or structure of an automobile, an airplane, a desktop computer, or other multi-component device. Case is very similar in meaning, but tends to connote the protective aspect of the frame rather than its structure. People tend to choose one term or the other. The rest of this definition uses chassis but applies as well to the term case.  … 
Definition continues below.

CHASSIS DEFINITION (continued): …  Both terms (and casing) are derived from the Vulgate Latin for box. The plural form is also chassis.In a computer, the chassis houses the main electronic components, including the motherboard (with places to insert or replace microchips for the main and possibly specialized processors and random access memory (RAM) and places for adding optional adapters (for example, for audio or video capabilities). Typically, room is provided for a hard disk drive and a CD-ROM drive. The IBM PC chassis for its XT computers set an early de facto standard for a chassis configuration (sometimes referred to … 
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