recess
verb/rɪˈses/
/rɪˈses/
[often passive]Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they recess | /rɪˈses/ /rɪˈses/ |
| he / she / it recesses | /rɪˈsesɪz/ /rɪˈsesɪz/ |
| past simple recessed | /rɪˈsest/ /rɪˈsest/ |
| past participle recessed | /rɪˈsest/ /rɪˈsest/ |
| -ing form recessing | /rɪˈsesɪŋ/ /rɪˈsesɪŋ/ |
- [transitive, intransitive] recess (something) (North American English) to take or to order a recess
- The hearing was recessed for the weekend.
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- [transitive] recess something (in/into something) to put something in a position that is set back into a wall, etc.
- The lights should be recessed into the ceiling.
- recessed shelves
Word Originmid 16th cent. (in the sense ‘withdrawal, departure’): from Latin recessus, from recedere ‘go back’, from re- ‘back’ + cedere ‘go’. The verb dates from the early 19th cent.
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recess