From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Cloister \Clois"ter\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Cloistered}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Cloistering}.] To confine in, or as in, a cloister; to seclude from the world; to immure.
None among them are thought worthy to be styled religious persons but those that cloister themselves up in a monastery. --Sharp.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Cloister \Clois"ter\, noun [OF. cloistre, F. clo[^i]tre, L. claustrum, pl. claustra, bar, bolt, bounds, fr. claudere, clausum, to close. See {Close}, verb (used with an object), and cf. {Claustral}.]
1. An inclosed place. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
2. A covered passage or ambulatory on one side of a court; (pl.) the series of such passages on the different sides of any court, esp. that of a monastery or a college.
But let my due feet never fail To walk the studious cloister's pale. --Milton.
3. A monastic establishment; a place for retirement from the world for religious duties.
Fitter for a cloister than a crown. --Daniel.
{Cloister garth} (Arch.), the garden or open part of a court inclosed by the cloisters.
Syn: {Cloister}, {Monastery}, {Nunnery}, {Convent}, {Abbey}, {Priory}.
Usage: Cloister and convent are generic terms, and denote a place of seclusion from the world for persons who devote their lives to religious purposes. They differ is that the distinctive idea of cloister is that of seclusion from the world, that of convent, community of living. Both terms denote houses for recluses of either sex. A cloister or convent for monks is called a monastery; for nuns, a nunnery. An abbey is a convent or monastic institution governed by an abbot or an abbess; a priory is one governed by a prior or a prioress, and is usually affiliated to an abbey.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: residence that is a place of religious seclusion (such as a monastery) [syn: {religious residence}]
2: a courtyard with covered walks (as in religious institutions)
verb
1: surround with a cloister, as of a garden
2: seclude from the world in or as if in a cloister; "She cloistered herself in the office"
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
141 Moby Thesaurus words for "cloister": Easter sepulcher, abbey, access, adytum, aisle, alley, ambry, ambulatory, aperture, apse, arcade, areaway, artery, ashram, avenue, baptistery, blindstory, bottle up, box in, box up, breezeway, cabin, cage, casket, cell, chancel, channel, check, choir, cloisters, closet, coffin, colonnade, communication, conduit, confessional, confessionary, confine, connection, constrain, convent, coop, coop in, coop up, cork up, corridor, covered way, cramp, crib, crypt, defile, den, detain, diaconicon, diaconicum, encage, encase, enclose, entomb, exit, fence in, ferry, ford, friary, gallery, hall, hallway, hem in, hermitage, hideaway, hideout, hiding place, hold, hold in custody, hold in restraint, holy of holies, house, immure, impound, inhibit, inlet, interchange, intersection, ivory tower, junction, keep in, keep in custody, keep in detention, lair, lamasery, lane, loggia, mew, mew up, monastery, nave, nunnery, opening, outlet, overpass, pass, passage, passageway, pen, pen up, pergola, peristyle, porch, portico, pound, presbytery, priorate, priory, privacy, rail in, railroad tunnel, recess, restrain, restrict, retreat, rood loft, rood stair, rood tower, sacrarium, sacristy, sanctum, sanctum sanctorum, seal up, secret place, shackle, shut in, shut up, straiten, traject, trajet, transept, triforium, tunnel, underpass, vestry, wall in
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