closet

Etymology

Definitions

1. 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.
   • She came in now, but to the closet; from it she took a simple skirt and blouse. Picking up her underclothing she departed, obviously to dress somewhere else.
2. 2

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

   • A slepe hym toke / In hys closet.
3. 3

   Any private or inner room, (particularly)

   • 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: […]
4. ›+ 12 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

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

      • Chaplayneȝ to þe chapeles chosen þe gate... / Þe lorde loutes þerto, & þe lady als, / In-to a comly closet coyntly ho entreȝ.
      • Closet, chapelle.
   2. 5

      A private cabinet, (particularly)

      A private cabinet, (particularly):

      • But heere's a Parchment... I found it in his Closset, 'tis his Will.
   3. 6

      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.
   4. 7

      A sewer.

   5. 8

      A state or condition of secrecy, privacy, or obscurity.

   6. 9

      A compendium of knowledge, possibly from closet as a room?

   7. 10

      Private.

   8. 11

      Closeted, secret (especially with reference to gay people who are in the closet).

      • He's a closet case.
      • I wonder if there is another in the world that could produce, among perfectly normal people, this strangest quirk in the agenda of liquordom, the closet drinker.
   9. 12

      Denoting anything kept a secret or private.

   10. 13

       To shut away for private discussion.

       • The ambassador has been closeted with the prime minister all afternoon. We're all worried what will be announced when they exit.
   11. 14

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

       • He was to call a new legislature, to closet its members.
       • He had been closeted with De Quadra.
   12. 15

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

       • 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;

The neighborhood

• synonymcabinetfurniture or shelving used for storage
• neighborwalk-in closetsmall room used for storage
• neighborstorage roomsmall room used for storage
• neighborcupboardstorage area set into a wall, used for storing food or dishware
• neighborpantrystorage area set into a wall, used for storing food or dishware
• neighborlarderstorage area set into a wall, used for storing food or dishware
• neighborcabinetstorage area set into a wall, used for storing food or dishware
• neighborsideboardpiece of furniture, used for storing food or dishware
• neighborpresspiece of furniture, used for storing food or dishware
• neighborwardrobepiece of furniture, used for storing food or dishware
• neighborout
• neighborcome out
• neighborcome out of the closet