CLOSET

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does closet mean? 

• CLOSET (noun)
  The noun CLOSET has 4 senses:

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

2. a toilet in Britain

3. a tall piece of furniture that provides storage space for clothes; has a door and rails or hooks for hanging clothes

4. a small private room for study or prayer

  Familiarity information: CLOSET used as a noun is uncommon.

• CLOSET (verb)
  The verb CLOSET has 1 sense:

1. confine to a small space, as for intensive work

  Familiarity information: CLOSET used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CLOSET (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A small room (or recess) or cabinet used for storage space

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

closet; cupboard

Hypernyms ("closet" is a kind of...):

storage space (the area in any structure that provides space for storage)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "closet"):

airing cupboard (a warm cupboard where you put newly washed clothes until they are completely dry)

broom closet (a small room for storing brooms and other cleaning equipment)

safe (a ventilated or refrigerated cupboard for securing provisions from pests)

supply closet (a closet for storing supplies)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A toilet in Britain

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

closet; loo; W.C.; water closet

Hypernyms ("closet" is a kind of...):

bathroom; can; john; lav; lavatory; privy; toilet (a room or building equipped with one or more toilets)

Sense 3

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

closet; press; wardrobe

Hypernyms ("closet" is a kind of...):

article of furniture; furniture; piece of furniture (furnishings that make a room or other area ready for occupancy)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "closet"):

armoire (a large wardrobe or cabinet; originally used for storing weapons)

clothes closet; clothespress (a closet where clothes are stored)

coat closet (a closet for storing outerwear)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A small private room for study or prayer

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("closet" is a kind of...):

room (an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling)

Meronyms (parts of "closet"):

shelf (a support that consists of a horizontal surface for holding objects)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "closet"):

booth; cubicle; kiosk; stall (small area set off by walls for special use)

Derivation:

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

• CLOSET (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they closet    ... he / she / it closets   
Past simple: closeted   
Past participle: closeted   
-ing form: closeting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Confine to a small space, as for intensive work

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "closet" is one way to...):

confine (prevent from leaving or from being removed)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

closet (a small private room for study or prayer)

 Context examples 

Everything was in its place, however, and after a hasty glance into her various closets, bags, and boxes, Jo decided that Amy had forgiven and forgotten her wrongs.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

He and Tiffey were closeted together for some few moments, and then Tiffey looked out at the door and beckoned me in.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

No one answered; but a form emerged from the closet; it took the light, held it aloft, and surveyed the garments pendent from the portmanteau.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Glumdalclitch had locked me up in her closet, while she went somewhere upon business, or a visit.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

A small closet contained his clothes and the books he had accumulated and for which there was no room on the table or under the table.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Do you think the minds which are suffered, which are indulged in wanderings in a chapel, would be more collected in a closet?

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) Does the patient pace, do things over and over such as opening closets or drawers, or repeatedly pick at things or wind string or threads?

(NPI - Pace, Do Things Over and Over, Repeatedly Pick at Things, NCI Thesaurus)

Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) Does the patient rummage around opening and unpacking drawers or closets?

(NPI - Rummage Around Opening and Unpacking Drawers or Closets, NCI Thesaurus)

Each closet needed but a glance, for all were empty, and all, by the dust that fell from their doors, had stood long unopened.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Your wishing-cloak hangs up in the closet, and as for the bird’s heart, I will give it you too.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)