See Also: recess(dictionary)
recess(medicine)
recess 2, verb(dictionary)
posterior recess(medicine)
pontocerebellar recess(medicine)
pneumatoenteric recess(medicine)
piriform recess(medicine)
pineal recess(medicine)
phrenicomediastinal recess(medicine)
pharyngeal recess(medicine)

recess (iou)



recess noun & verb. E16.
[Latin recessus, from recess- pa. ppl stem of recedere RECEDE verb1.]
A. noun.
a. An agreement. Only in E16.
b. Hist. A resolution or decree of the Diet of the Holy Roman Empire or the Hanseatic League. E18.
The action of withdrawing or departing from or to a place. M16-L17.
b. fig. A departure from some state or standard. Only in 17.
c. The action of withdrawing from public life; privacy, seclusion; a period of retirement. M17-M18.
The action, esp. by water, of receding or going back or away from a certain point. arch. E17.
A period of cessation from work or business, esp. of a legislative body or (chiefly N. Amer.) of a court of law or during a school day. E17.
J. B. Morton The Commons..reassembled after the Christmas recess. D. Cusack There'll be a Staff Meeting at Recess. N. Barber I will grant a ten-minute recess.
b. Delay; respite. rare. E17-E18.
c. Relaxation, leisure. Only in 18.
A remote, secluded, or secret place; in pl., the remotest or innermost parts of a thing (lit. & fig.). E17.
L. Strachey In the recesses of the palace her..figure was..omnipresent. A. Storr Traits..have their place within the recesses of our..psyches.
a. Physical Geography. A receding part or indentation in a mountain range, coast, etc. L17.
b. A space set back in a wall; a niche, an alcove. L18.
P. D. James A..fireplace, the two recesses fitted with..bookshelves.
c. Any small depression or indentation. M19.
d. The room for slopping out in a prison. Usu. in pl. Criminals' slang. M20.
Comb.: recess-printed adjective (of a stamp) printed by the recess printing method; recess printing a method of printing stamps so that the design is slightly raised from the surface.
b. verb.
verb trans. Place in a recess; set back. E19.
verb trans. Make a recess or recesses in. L19.
Chiefly N. Amer.
a. verb intrans. Take a recess; adjourn. L19.
b. verb trans. Order (a meeting etc.) into recess; adjourn. M20.