CLOISTER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does cloister mean? 

• CLOISTER (noun)
  The noun CLOISTER has 2 senses:

1. residence that is a place of religious seclusion (such as a monastery)

2. a courtyard with covered walks (as in religious institutions)

  Familiarity information: CLOISTER used as a noun is rare.

• CLOISTER (verb)
  The verb CLOISTER has 3 senses:

1. surround with a cloister, as of a garden

2. surround with a cloister

3. seclude from the world in or as if in a cloister

  Familiarity information: CLOISTER used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CLOISTER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Residence that is a place of religious seclusion (such as a monastery)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

cloister; religious residence

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

residence (the official house or establishment of an important person (as a sovereign or president))

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

convent (a religious residence especially for nuns)

monastery (the residence of a religious community)

priory (religious residence in a monastery governed by a prior or a convent governed by a prioress)

Derivation:

cloister (seclude from the world in or as if in a cloister)

cloistral (of communal life sequestered from the world under religious vows)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A courtyard with covered walks (as in religious institutions)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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

court; courtyard (an area wholly or partly surrounded by walls or buildings)

Domain category:

faith; religion; religious belief (a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny)

Derivation:

cloister (surround with a cloister, as of a garden)

• CLOISTER (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they cloister    ... he / she / it cloisters   
Past simple: cloistered   
Past participle: cloistered   
-ing form: cloistering   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Surround with a cloister, as of a garden

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

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

border; environ; ring; skirt; surround (extend on all sides of simultaneously; encircle)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

cloister (a courtyard with covered walks (as in religious institutions))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Surround with a cloister

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

cloister the garden

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

border; environ; ring; skirt; surround (extend on all sides of simultaneously; encircle)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Seclude from the world in or as if in a cloister

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

She cloistered herself in the office

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

insulate; isolate (place or set apart)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

cloister (residence that is a place of religious seclusion (such as a monastery))

 Context examples 

Do you know that all these were squeezed out of your dying father by greedy priests, to pay for your upbringing in the cloisters?

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It was some relief, however, that they were to return to the rooms in common use, by passing through a few of less importance, looking into the court, which, with occasional passages, not wholly unintricate, connected the different sides; and she was further soothed in her progress by being told that she was treading what had once been a cloister, having traces of cells pointed out, and observing several doors that were neither opened nor explained to her—by finding herself successively in a billiard-room, and in the general's private apartment, without comprehending their connection, or being able to turn aright when she left them; and lastly, by passing through a dark little room, owning Henry's authority, and strewed with his litter of books, guns, and greatcoats.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

“I have heard much even in the quiet cloisters of these new and dreadful engines,” quoth Alleyne.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

To see and explore either the ramparts and keep of the one, or the cloisters of the other, had been for many weeks a darling wish, though to be more than the visitor of an hour had seemed too nearly impossible for desire.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

You have seen the cloisters; it were well that you should see the world too, ere you make choice for life between them.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

But were there no other considerations which swayed him from the cloisters towards the world?

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

You, John, are also from the cloisters, but I trow that you do not feel that you have deserted the old service in taking on the new.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Ah, if you could but see my own dear Pisa, the Duomo, the cloisters of Campo Santo, the high Campanile, with the mellow throb of her bells upon the warm Italian air!

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It may be that my little comrade has been over quick in reproof, he having gone early into the cloisters and seen little of the rough ways and words of the world.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Looking up, he saw beside him his former cloister companion the renegade monk, Hordle John.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)