cloister
Use Cloister in a sentence
stər noun
1.
a covered walk, especially in a religious institution, having an open arcade or colonnade usually opening onto a courtyard.
2.
a courtyard, especially in a religious institution, bordered with such walks.
3.
a place of religious seclusion, as a monastery or convent.
4.
any quiet, secluded place.
5.
life in a monastery or convent.
verb (used with object)
6.
to confine in a monastery or convent.
7.
to confine in retirement; seclude.
8.
to furnish with a cloister or covered walk.
9.
to convert into a monastery or convent.
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Cloister
is one of our favorite verbs.
So is hornswoggle. Does it mean:
| to swindle, cheat, hoodwink, or hoax. |
| to run away hurriedly; flee. |
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To cloister
Collins
World English Dictionary
cloister (ˈklɔɪstə) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | a covered walk, usually around a quadrangle in a religious institution, having an open arcade or colonnade on the inside and a wall on the outside |
| 2. | (sometimes plural) a place of religious seclusion, such as a monastery |
| 3. | life in a monastery or convent |
| —vb | |
| 4. | (tr) to confine or seclude in or as if in a monastery |
| [C13: from Old French cloistre, from Medieval Latin claustrum monastic cell, from Latin: bolt, barrier, from claudere to close; influenced in form by Old French cloison partition] | |
| 'cloister-like | |
| —adj | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
cloister
c.1300, from O.Fr. clostre or O.E. clauster, both from M.L. claustrum "portion of monastery closed off to laity," from L. claustrum "place shut in, bar, bolt, enclosure," from pp. stem of claudere (see close (v.)). Sense of "enclosed space" extended to "place of religious
seclusion." The verb is recorded from 1581.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
The walls of the cloister have fallen before the cries of a rising womanhood.
When you think of people seeking divine visions, you imagine them trekking to some mountainous cloister.
Simplicity is the sensibility at work in this cloister.
Hence the forewarning and the flight, the cloister and the yellow robes.
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