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Closet
Definitions
- 1 Private. not-comparable, obsolete
- 2 Closeted, secret (especially with reference to gay people who are in the closet). not-comparable
"He's a closet case."
- 3 Denoting anything kept a secret or private. not-comparable
- 1 A small room within a house used to store clothing, food, or other household supplies.
"A Closet full of shelves... it... should therefore be called a Cupboard rather than a Closet."
- 2 a small private room for study or prayer wordnet
- 3 Any private space, (particularly) bowers in the open air. obsolete
"A slepe hym toke / In hys closet."
- 4 a small room (or recess) or cabinet used for storage space wordnet
- 5 Any private or inner room, (particularly) archaic
"VVhen come to the place vvhere vve all vvere to dine, / (A chair-lumber'd Cloſet, juſt tvvelve feet by nine) / My friend bid me vvelcome, but ſtruck me quite dumb / VVith tidings that Johnson and Burke coud not come: […]"
Show 18 more definitions
- 6 a tall piece of furniture that provides storage space for clothes; has a door and rails or hooks for hanging clothes wordnet
- 7 Any private or inner room, (particularly):; A private room used by women to groom and dress themselves. archaic, obsolete
"Closet for a lady to make her redy in, chamberette."
- 8 a toilet in Britain wordnet
- 9 Any private or inner room, (particularly):; A private room used for prayer or other devotions. archaic
"When thou prayest, enter into thy closet."
- 10 Any private or inner room, (particularly):; A place of (usually, fanciful) contemplation and theorizing. archaic, figuratively
"[A]broad and at home, at their Tables or in their Closets […]"
- 11 Any private or inner room, (particularly):; The private residence or private council chamber of a monarch. archaic
- 12 A pew or side-chapel reserved for a monarch or other feudal lord. obsolete
"Chaplayneȝ to þe chapeles chosen þe gate... / Þe lorde loutes þerto, & þe lady als, / In-to a comly closet coyntly ho entreȝ."
- 13 A private cabinet, (particularly):; One used to store valuables. obsolete
"But heere's a Parchment... I found it in his Closset, 'tis his Will."
- 14 A private cabinet, (particularly):; One used to store curiosities. archaic
"Mr. Tradescant and his wife told me they had been long considering upon whom to bestow their closet of curiosities when they died."
- 15 A private cabinet, (particularly):; A secret or hiding place, (particularly) the hiding place in English idioms such as in the closet and skeleton in the closet. figuratively
"Went the sonne of god oute of the pryuy closet of the maydens wombe."
- 16 A private cabinet, (particularly):; Clipping of closet case. abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, slang, uncommon
- 17 Any small room or side room.; One intended for storing clothes or bedclothes. Ireland, Philippines, Scotland, US
- 18 Any small room or side room.; Clipping of closet of ease, (later, UK) clipping of water closet: a room containing a toilet. Ireland, Scotland, abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, obsolete
- 19 An ordinary similar to a bar but half as broad.
"A Closset is the halfe of the Barre, and tenne of them maie be borne in one fielde."
- 20 A sewer. Scotland, obsolete
- 21 A state or condition of secrecy, privacy, or obscurity.
- 22 A state or condition of secrecy, privacy, or obscurity.; The state of having one's sexual orientation a secret.
"6 o'clock TV news specials concerning a famous Hollywood movie star who has been diagnosed with [AIDS]. It had to happen sooner or later. (In fact it probably has happened sooner, but the tenor of the times and the closets of the people were no doubt more secure.)"
- 23 A compendium of knowledge, possibly from closet as a room? archaic
- 1 To shut away for private discussion. transitive
"The ambassador has been closeted with the prime minister all afternoon. We're all worried what will be announced when they exit."
- 2 confine to a small space, as for intensive work wordnet
- 3 To put into a private place for a secret interview or interrogation. transitive
"He was to call a new legislature, to closet its members."
- 4 To shut up in, or as in, a closet for concealment or confinement. transitive
"See what contempt is fallen on human kind; […] See Bedlam's closeted and handcuff'd charge / Surpass'd in frenzy by the mad at large;"
Etymology
From Middle English closet, from Old French closet, from clos (“private space”) + -et (diminutive suffix), from Latin clausum. Equivalent to close + -et, but generally applied in French solely to small open-air enclosures.
From Middle English closet, from Old French closet, from clos (“private space”) + -et (diminutive suffix), from Latin clausum. Equivalent to close + -et, but generally applied in French solely to small open-air enclosures.
From Middle English closet, from Old French closet, from clos (“private space”) + -et (diminutive suffix), from Latin clausum. Equivalent to close + -et, but generally applied in French solely to small open-air enclosures.
See also for "closet"
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