CLOSET

closet

(noun) a small private room for study or prayer

cupboard, closet

(noun) a small room (or recess) or cabinet used for storage space

wardrobe, closet, press

(noun) a tall piece of furniture that provides storage space for clothes; has a door and rails or hooks for hanging clothes

closet

(verb) confine to a small space, as for intensive work

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

closet (plural closets)

(obsolete) Any private area, (particularly) bowers in the open air.

(now, rare) Any private or inner room, (particularly)

(obsolete) A private room used by women to groom and dress themselves.

(archaic) A private room used for prayer or other devotions.

(figuratively, archaic) A place of (usually) contemplation and theorizing.

(archaic) The private residence or private council chamber of a monarch.

(obsolete) A pew or side-chapel reserved for a monarch or other feudal lord.

A private cabinet, (particularly)

(obsolete) One used to store valuables.

(archaic) One used to store curiosities.

(now, chiefly, US) One used to store food or other household supplies: a cupboard.

(figuratively) A secret or hiding place, (particularly) the hiding place in English idioms such as in the closet and skeleton in the closet.

(now, chiefly, Scotland, Ireland) Any small room or side-room, (particularly)

(US) One intended for storing clothes or bedclothes.

(obsolete) Clipping of closet of ease, (later, UK) clipping of water closet: a room containing a toilet.

(heraldry) An ordinary similar to a bar but half as broad.

(Scotland, obsolete) A sewer.

Synonyms

• (place of fanciful theorization): armchair

• (furniture or shelving used for storage): See cabinet

• (room with a toilet): See bathroom

Hyponyms

• (A small closet with built-in lock): locker

• (A small room used for storage): walk-in closet, storage room

• (A storage area set into a wall, used for storing food or dishware): cupboard, pantry, larder, cabinet

• (A piece of furniture, used for storing clothes): wardrobe, armoire, press (Irish & Scots)

• (A piece of furniture, used for storing food or dishware): cupboard, sideboard, cabinet, press (Irish & Scots), wardrobe (UK)

Adjective

closet (not comparable)

(obsolete) Private.

Secret, (especially) with reference to gay people who are in the closet; closeted.

Verb

closet (third-person singular simple present closets, present participle closeting, simple past and past participle closeted)

(transitive) To shut away for private discussion.

(transitive) To put into a private place for a secret interview or interrogation.

(transitive) To shut up in, or as in, a closet for concealment or confinement.

Anagrams

• colets, telcos

Source: Wiktionary


Clos"et, n. Etym: [OF. closet little inclosure, dim. of clos. See Close an inclosure.]

1. A small room or apartment for retirement; a room for privacy. A chair-lumbered closet, just twelve feet by nine. Goldsmith. When thou prayest, enter into thy closet. Matt. vi. 6.

2. A small apartment, or recess in the side of a room, for household utensils, clothing, etc. Dryden. Closet sin, sin commited in privacy. Bp. Hall.

Clos"et, v. t. [imp. & p. pr. & vb. n. Closeting.]

1. To shut up in, or as in, a closet; to conceal. [R.] Bedlam's closeted and handcuffed charge. Cowper.

2. To make into a closet for a secret interview. He was to call a new legislature, to closet its members. Bancroft. He had been closeted with De Quadra. Froude.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

5 May 2025

UNEXPLOITED

(adjective) not developed, improved, exploited or used; “vast unexploited (or undeveloped) natural resources”; “taxes on undeveloped lots are low”


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Coffee Trivia

According to Guinness World Records, the largest iced coffee is 14,228.1 liters and was created by Caffé Bene (South Korea), in Yangju, South Korea, on 17 July 2014. They poured iced black Americano on the giant cup that measured 3.3 meters tall and 2.62 meters wide.

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