A fixture is something permanently attached to a building or room that stays in place and isn't meant to be moved around. Light fixtures hang from ceilings or stick out from walls, providing illumination wherever they're installed. Bathroom fixtures include sinks, toilets, and bathtubs: the essential equipment that makes a bathroom work. When a family sells their house, the fixtures stay behind for the new owners because they're considered part of the building itself.

The word also describes someone or something that has become a permanent, familiar presence. A kindly crossing guard who has worked at the same intersection for twenty years becomes a fixture in the neighborhood. The old oak tree in the town square might be described as a fixture of the community. In sports, when a team is a fixture in the playoffs, they make it there consistently year after year.

Understanding what counts as a fixture matters in real situations. When people move to a new home, they can take their furniture and curtains, but ceiling fans and built-in bookshelves are fixtures that must stay. A lamp you plug in and carry from room to room isn't a fixture, but a chandelier bolted to the ceiling is.