Adjacent Words

Recess definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

RECESS', n. [L. recessus, from recedo. See Recede.]
1. A withdrawing or retiring; a moving back; as the recess of the tides.
2. A withdrawing from public business or notice; retreat; retirement.
My recess hath given them confidence that I may be conquered.
And every neighboring grove sacred to soft recess and gentle love.
3. Departure.
4. Place of retirement or secrecy; private abode.
This happy place, our sweet recess.
5. State of retirement; as lords in close recess.
In the recess of the jury, they are to consider their evidence.
6. Remission or suspension of business or procedure; as, the house of representatives had a recess of half an hour.
7. Privacy; seclusion from the world or from company.
Good verse recess and solitude requires.
8. Secret or abstruse part; as the difficulties and recesses of science.
9. A withdrawing from any point; removal to a distance.
10. An abstract or registry of the resolutions of the imperial diet. [Not in use.]
11. The retiring of the shore of the sea or of a lake from the general line of the shore, forming a bay.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a state of abeyance or suspended business [syn: deferral, recess]
2: a small concavity [syn: recess, recession, niche, corner]
3: an arm off of a larger body of water (often between rocky headlands) [syn: inlet, recess]
4: an enclosure that is set back or indented [syn: recess, niche]
5: a pause from doing something (as work); "we took a 10-minute break"; "he took time out to recuperate" [syn: respite, recess, break, time out] v
1: put into a recess; "recess lights"
2: make a recess in; "recess the piece of wood"
3: close at the end of a session; "The court adjourned" [syn: adjourn, recess, break up]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Latin recessus, from recedere to recede Date: 1531 1. the action of receding ; recession 2. a hidden, secret, or secluded place or part 3. a. indentation, cleft <a deep recess in the hill> b. alcove <a recess lined with books> 4. a suspension of business or procedure often for rest or relaxation <children playing at recess> II. verb Date: 1809 transitive verb 1. to put into a recess <recessed lighting> 2. to make a recess in 3. to interrupt for a recess intransitive verb to take a recess

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a space set back in a wall; a niche. 2 (often in pl.) a remote or secret place (the innermost recesses). 3 a temporary cessation from work, esp. of Parliament, or US of a lawcourt or during a school day. 4 Anat. a fold or indentation in an organ. 5 Geog. a receding part of a mountain chain etc. --v. 1 tr. make a recess in. 2 tr. place in a recess; set back. 3 US a intr. take a recess; adjourn. b tr. order a temporary cessation from the work of (a court etc.). Etymology: L recessus (as RECEDE)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Recess Re*cess", n. [L. recessus, fr. recedere, recessum. See Recede.] 1. A withdrawing or retiring; a moving back; retreat; as, the recess of the tides. Every degree of ignorance being so far a recess and degradation from rationality. --South. My recess hath given them confidence that I may be conquered. --Eikon Basilike. 2. The state of being withdrawn; seclusion; privacy. In the recess of the jury they are to consider the evidence. --Sir M. Hale. Good verse recess and solitude requires. --Dryden. 3. Remission or suspension of business or procedure; intermission, as of a legislative body, court, or school. The recess of . . . Parliament lasted six weeks. --Macaulay. 4. Part of a room formed by the receding of the wall, as an alcove, niche, etc. A bed which stood in a deep recess. --W. Irving. 5. A place of retirement, retreat, secrecy, or seclusion. Departure from his happy place, our sweet Recess, and only consolation left. --Milton. 6. Secret or abstruse part; as, the difficulties and recesses of science. --I. Watts. 7. (Bot. & Zo["o]l.) A sinus.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Recess Re*cess", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Recessed; p. pr. & vb. n. Recessing.] To make a recess in; as, to recess a wall.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Recess Re*cess", n. [G.] A decree of the imperial diet of the old German empire. --Brande & C.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(recesses, recessing, recessed) 1. A recess is a break between the periods of work of an official body such as a committee, a court of law, or a government. The conference broke for a recess... N-COUNT: also in/from N 2. When formal meetings or court cases recess, they stop temporarily. (FORMAL) The hearings have now recessed for dinner... Before the trial recessed today, the lawyer read her opening statement. VERB: V for n, V 3. In a room, a recess is part of a wall which is built further back than the rest of the wall. Recesses are often used as a place to put furniture such as shelves. ...a discreet recess next to a fireplace. N-COUNT 4. The recesses of something or somewhere are the parts of it which are hard to see because light does not reach them or they are hidden from view. He emerged from the dark recesses of the garage... N-COUNT: usu pl, usu with supp 5. If you refer to the recesses of someone's mind or soul, you are referring to thoughts or feelings they have which are hidden or difficult to describe. There was something in the darker recesses of his unconscious that was troubling him. N-COUNT: usu pl, usu with supp

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Retreat, nook, corner, niche, place of retirement. 2. Intermission, respite, remission of labor, suspension of business, vacation. 3. Withdrawing, withdrawal, retreat, retirement, recession. 4. Seclusion, privacy. 5. Departure.

Moby Thesaurus

Jim Crow, abeyance, adjourn, adytum, alcove, apartheid, apartness, ashram, asylum, bay, bolt-hole, bosom, break, breath, breathe, breather, breathing place, breathing space, breathing spell, breathing time, cache, caesura, call a break, call a recess, call time, carrel, cease-fire, cell, center, cigarette break, cloister, cocktail hour, coffee break, concealment, continue, core, corner, cove, cover, covert, coverture, cranny, cubby, cubbyhole, cubicle, dark corner, day off, declare a recess, deepest recesses, defer, delay, den, dent, depress, depths, detachment, dimple, dint, dissolve, downtime, drag out, drop, dugout, enforced respite, engrave, extend, foxhole, funk hole, half time, half-time intermission, halt, hang fire, hang up, happy hour, heart, heart of hearts, hermitage, hesitate, hesitation, hideaway, hideout, hidey hole, hiding, hiding place, hold off, hold over, hold up, hole, holiday, hollow, holy of holies, impress, imprint, indent, inglenook, inner, inner landscape, inner life, inner man, inner nature, inner recess, inner self, inside, interim, interior, interior man, interlude, intermezzo, intermission, intermit, intermittence, intern, internal, interregnum, interruption, interval, intervene, intrados, inward, isolation, isolationism, ivory tower, knock off, lair, lapse, lay aside, lay by, lay off, lay over, layoff, let up, letup, lull, mew, niche, nook, notch, off-time, oriel, pause, penetralia, pigeonhole, pit, pitchhole, plateau, pock, pockmark, point of repose, postpone, press in, privacy, privatism, privatization, prolong, prorogate, prorogue, protract, punch, punch in, push aside, put aside, put off, put on ice, quarantine, quiet spell, recesses, recession, reclusion, refuge, relief, remission, reserve, respite, rest, resting point, retirement, retreat, rise, roomlet, rustication, sanctuary, sanctum, sanctum sanctorum, seclusion, secrecy, secret place, secret places, segregation, separation, sequestration, set aside, set back, set by, set in, shelve, shift off, sleep on, snuggery, soul, spell, splendid isolation, stamp, stand over, stand-down, stash, stave off, stay, stop for breath, stretch out, surcease, suspend, suspension, table, take a break, take a recess, take a rest, take five, take ten, take time out, tamp, tea break, terminate, time off, time out, truce, undercovert, vacation, vital center, vitals, waive, withdrawal