recess

[ ri-ses, ree-ses ]

/ rɪˈsɛs, ˈri sɛs /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR recess ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

temporary withdrawal or cessation from the usual work or activity.

a period of such withdrawal.

a receding part or space, as a bay or alcove in a room.

an indentation in a line or extent of coast, hills, forest, etc.

recesses, a secluded or inner area or part: in the recesses of the palace.

verb (used with object)

to place or set in a recess.

to set or form as or like a recess; make a recess or recesses in: to recess a wall.

to suspend or defer for a recess: to recess the Senate.

verb (used without object)

to take a recess.

Words nearby recess

receptionist, receptive, receptive aphasia, receptor, receptor protein, recess, recession, recessional, recessional moraine, recessionary, recessionista

Origin of recess

1510–20; < Latin recessus a withdrawal, receding part, equivalent to recēd(ere) to recede¹ + -tus suffix of v. action, with dt > ss

SYNONYMS FOR recess

1 respite, rest, break, vacation.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR recess ON THESAURUS.COM

OTHER WORDS FROM recess

non·re·cess, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Examples from the Web for recesses

Fortunately, there was another word for quick that popped from the recesses of his memory.
You Can Look It Up: The Wikipedia Story|Walter Isaacson|October 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Pictures of pets, pictures of relatives in coffins, pictures of intimate moments otherwise discarded in the recesses of memory.
These Photographs Would Die Without Him|Dale Eisinger|July 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In the recesses of Concordia you will feel really, really small.
It’s a Big, Big World: Sights That Make You Feel Small|Lonely Planet|December 24, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The others made their escape by plunging deeper into the recesses of the quarry.
Scenes and Adventures in Affghanistan|William Taylor

At sides masonry with recesses; in the R. centre a great doorway.
Apu Ollantay|Anonymous
Three dwarf bookcases are fitted into recesses, and are well filled with all the books necessary to a woman of letters.
Notable Women Authors of the Day|Helen C. Black
Little sandy beaches of a few feet wide, laid bare by the action of the water, stretched inward, and were lost in these recesses.
Toilers of the Sea|Victor Hugo
It was a strange, grim, gloomy gothic chamber, full of strange niches and recesses of old stone-work.
Graham's Magazine Vol XXXIII No. 3 September 1848|Various

British Dictionary definitions for recesses

recess

noun (rɪˈsɛs, ˈriːsɛs)

a space, such as a niche or alcove, set back or indented

(often plural) a secluded or secret placerecesses of the mind

a cessation of business, such as the closure of Parliament during a vacation

anatomy a small cavity or depression in a bodily organ, part, or structure

US and Canadian a break between classes at a school

verb (rɪˈsɛs)

(tr) to place or set (something) in a recess

(tr) to build a recess or recesses in (a wall, building, etc)

Word Origin for recess

C16: from Latin recessus a retreat, from recēdere to recede

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Medical definitions for recesses

recess

[ rē′sĕs′, rĭ-sĕs′ ]

n.

A small hollow or an indented area.

recess

noun

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

Words related to recess

Words nearby recess

Origin of recess

SYNONYMS FOR recess

OTHER WORDS FROM recess

Examples from the Web for recesses

British Dictionary definitions for recesses

noun (rɪˈsɛs, ˈriːsɛs)

verb (rɪˈsɛs)

Word Origin for recess

Medical definitions for recesses

n.