Recess

/ɹɪˈsɛs/ adj, name, noun, verb, slang

adj, name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level

Meaning at a glance

  • Primary sense: A depressed, hollow, or indented space; also, a hole or opening.
  • Grammar: recess is listed as adj, name, noun, verb, slang.
  • Nearest alternatives: break, niche, abeyance, adjourn.
  • Useful contrasts: common pedagogical term, curricular period, instructional period.
  • Usage evidence: Let's have some coffee during recess.

How to use "recess"

  1. Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
  2. Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "recess" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
  3. Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.

Meaning check

  • Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
  • Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
  • Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
  • Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?

Source and review context

This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "recess" in a final draft.

If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.

Before you rely on this definition

Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "recess" as the right word for your sentence.

If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "recess" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.

Compare nearby meanings

  • Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
  • Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
  • Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
  • Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.

Definition decision workflow

1. Identify the role

Check whether "recess" is acting as adj, name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.

2. Test the nearest option

Compare it with "break" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.

3. Confirm with context

Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.

Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.

Final meaning check

Before publishing a sentence with "recess", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.

When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A depressed, hollow, or indented space; also, a hole or opening. countable

    "Put a generous recess behind the handle for finger space."

  2. 2
    a pause from doing something (as work) wordnet
  3. 3
    A depressed, hollow, or indented space; also, a hole or opening.; A small space created by building part of a wall further back from the rest; a niche. countable, uncountable

    "[T]he Harmony, Proportion and Beauty of Buildings are equally admirable, vvhether they be executed in plain Free-ſtone, or the moſt beautiful Marble; vvhether the Carvings or Mouldings be gilt or not; the Receſſes or Panels in the VValls be curiouſly painted, or only plaiſter'd."

  4. 4
    an enclosure that is set back or indented wordnet
  5. 5
    A depressed, hollow, or indented space; also, a hole or opening.; The place in a prison where the communal lavatories are located. countable, plural-normally, slang, uncountable
Show 18 more definitions
  1. 6
    an arm off of a larger body of water (often between rocky headlands) wordnet
  2. 7
    A hidden, innermost, or inaccessible place or part of a place. countable

    "The recesses of the forest answered well the purposes of concealment, and Lucy was useful both as an unsuspected messenger, and also for the intelligence she was able to obtain."

  3. 8
    a small concavity wordnet
  4. 9
    A hidden, innermost, or inaccessible place or part of a place.; A place of retirement, retreat, or seclusion. archaic, countable, uncountable

    "[U]s hitherto this Corner and ſecret receſſe hath defended, novv the Vttermoſt point of our Land is laid open: and things the leſſe they haue beene vvithin knovvledge, the greater the glorie is to atchieue them."

  5. 10
    a state of abeyance or suspended business wordnet
  6. 11
    A hidden, innermost, or inaccessible place or part of a place.; An obscure, remote, or secret situation. countable, figuratively, plural-normally, uncountable

    "the difficulties and recesses of science"

  7. 12
    A temporary stoppage of an activity; a break, a pause. countable

    "Spring recess offers a good chance to travel."

  8. 13
    A temporary stoppage of an activity; a break, a pause.; A period of time when the proceedings of a committee, court of law, parliament, or other official body are temporarily suspended. countable, uncountable

    "After the Easter recess, Sir George Lynn, who was lately elected member for Millcote, will have to go up to town and take his seat; […]"

  9. 14
    A temporary stoppage of an activity; a break, a pause.; A time away from studying during the school day for a meal or recreation. Australia, British, Canada, Philippines, US, countable, uncountable

    "Students who do not listen in class will not play outside during recess."

  10. 15
    An act of retiring or withdrawing; a moving back. archaic, countable

    "the recess of the tides"

  11. 16
    A decree or resolution of the diet of the Holy Roman Empire or the Hanseatic League. countable, historical

    "Conformably to this a receſs [the Recess of Augsburg] vvas framed, approved of, and publiſhed vvith the uſual formalities. […] Such are the capital articles in this famous Receſs, vvhich is the baſis of religious peace in Germany, […]"

  12. 17
    An act of retiring or withdrawing from public life, society, etc.; also, an act of living in retirement or seclusion, or a period of such retirement or seclusion. countable, obsolete

    "First we went to the Castle of St. Elmo, built on a very high rock, whence we had an intire prospect of yᵉ whole Citty, which lyes in shape of a theatre upon the sea brinke, with all the circumjacent islands, as far as Capreæ, famous for the debauched recesses of Tiberius."

  13. 18
    Leisure, relaxation. countable, obsolete, uncountable

    "It [Rome] is divided into 14 Regions or Wards; has 7 Mountaines, and as may Campi or Vally's; in these are faire Parks or Gardens call'd Villas, being onely places of recesse and pleasure, at some distance from the streetes, yet within the walls."

  14. 19
    The state of being withdrawn. countable, obsolete, uncountable

    "Good Verſe, receſs and Solitude requires: / And Eaſe from Cares, and undiſturb'd Deſires."

  15. 20
    A departure from a norm or position. countable, figuratively, obsolete

    "This, part of METAPHISICKE: I doe not finde laboured and performed, vvhereat I maruaile not, Becauſe I hold it not poſſible to bee inuented by that courſe of inuention vvhich hath beene vſed, in regard that men (vvhich is the Roote of all error) haue made too untimely a departure, and to[o] remote a receſſe from particulars."

  16. 21
    A time interval during which something ceases; an interruption, a respite. countable, figuratively, obsolete

    "But in the end (as Perſons capable of reaſon) on both ſides they made rather a kind of Receſſe, then a Breach of Treaty, and concluded vpon a Truce for ſome moneths follovving."

  17. 22
    An overall-concave, reentrant section of a sinuous fold and thrust belt, thrust sheet, or a single thrust fault, caused by one or more of: deformation (folding and faulting) of strata and geologic structures during orogenesis, differences in the angle of critical taper during orogenesis, or differing erosional level of the present geomorphological surface. countable

    "Orogenic arcs are made up by more advanced segments (salients) separated by less advanced zones (recesses) (Miser, 1932). Within salients, the critical taper is lower, the distance among thrust ramps is larger, and there may be more ramps departing from the basal décollement layer with respect to the recess areas."

  18. 23
    An extension or outpouching of a cavity (e.g. articular recess, peritoneal recess,...) countable
Verb
  1. 1
    To position (something) a distance behind another thing; to set back. transitive

    "His house stood recessed from the road, and the stables, which are to a farm what a fireplace is to a house, were behind, their lower portions being lost amid bushes of laurel."

  2. 2
    close at the end of a session wordnet
  3. 3
    To make a recess (noun noun sense 1 and noun sense 1.1) in (something). often, transitive

    "to recess a wall"

  4. 4
    make a recess in wordnet
  5. 5
    Often preceded by in or into: to inset (something) into a recess or niche. also, often, reflexive, transitive

    "That gargoyle recesses into the rest of architecture."

Show 6 more definitions
  1. 6
    put into a recess wordnet
  2. 7
    To conceal, to hide. figuratively, transitive

    "Get near fat Mr. Dutton, and behind the screen of his prodigious elbow, you will be comfortably recessed from curious impertinents."

  3. 8
    To temporarily suspend (a meeting, the proceedings of an official body, etc.). US, transitive

    "When Congress is recessed, he makes himself acquainted with those free United States, of which he is the gifted son."

  4. 9
    To make a recess appointment in respect of (someone). US, informal, transitive

    "To the National Rifle Association's delight, the Senate has hobbled the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives by failing to confirm a director since 2006, but [Barack] Obama hasn't made a recess appointment. […] "The President's view of his own power is a constrained one," says White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler. "Many of his nominees have languished, but he's only recessed the ones that were critical to keep agencies functioning.""

  5. 10
    Of a meeting, the proceedings of an official body, etc.: to adjourn, to take a break. US, intransitive

    "Class will recess for 20 minutes."

  6. 11
    Of an official body: to suspend proceedings for a period of time. US, intransitive

    "This court shall recess for its lunch break now."

Adjective
  1. 1
    Of a place or time: distant, remote. obsolete, rare

    "[…] I ſhould think it beſt in the ſubſequent diſcourſes to begin to examine vvhether the Earth be eſteemed immoveable, as it hath been till novv believed by moſt men, or elſe moveable, as ſome ancient Philoſophers held, and others of not very receſſe times vvere of opinion; and if it be moveable, to enquire of vvhat kind its motion may be?"

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A village in County Galway, Ireland.

Synonyms

All synonyms
breaknicheabeyanceadjournadjournadjourn

Antonyms

common pedagogical termcurricular periodinstructional periodsalient

Example

"Let's have some coffee during recess."

Common questions

What does "recess" mean?

A depressed, hollow, or indented space; also, a hole or opening.

What is a synonym for "recess"?

Common synonyms include: break, niche, abeyance, adjourn, adjourn, adjourn.

How do you use "recess" in a sentence?

Let's have some coffee during recess.

How do you pronounce "recess"?

Pronounced /ɹɪˈsɛs/.

Etymology

The noun is borrowed from Latin recessus (“act of going back, departure, receding, retiring; (figuratively) retreat, withdrawal; (metonymically) distant, secluded, or secret spot, corner, nook, retreat; recessed part, indentation”) (also Late Latin recessus (“decree or resolution of the Diet of the Holy Roman Empire”)), from recēdō (“to go back, recede, retire, withdraw; to go away, depart; (by extension) to disappear, vanish; to separate; to stand back, be distant; to yield”) (from re- (prefix meaning ‘back, backwards’) + cēdō (“to go, move, proceed”)) + -tus (suffix forming action nouns from verbs); influenced by Middle French recès, French recès (“a break, pause; break between classes in school; school vacation; ebbing of tide; reduction”) (also Anglo-Norman recès and Old French recès (“hiding place; hollow”). Noun sense 5 (“decree or resolution of the diet of the Holy Roman Empire, etc.”) is possibly influenced by Italian recesso and refers to a decree or resolution made just before a meeting ends. The adjective and verb are derived from the noun. Cognates * Catalan recés * Italian recesso * Middle French recès (modern French recès) * Portuguese recesso * Spanish receso

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Synonyms

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