recessing

Verb

recess (third-person singular simple present recesses, present participle recessing, simple past and past participle recessed)

1. (transitive) To position (something) a distance behind another thing; to set back.
   • His house stood recessed from the road, and the stables, which are to a farm what a fireplace is to a house, were behind, their lower portions being lost amid bushes of laurel.1874, Thomas Hardy, “Boldwood in Meditation—A Visit”, in Far from the Madding Crowd. […], volume I, London: Smith, Elder & Co., […], →OCLC, page 199
2. (often, transitive) To make a recess (noun senses 1 and 1.1) in (something).
   • to recess a wall
3. (also, often, reflexive, transitive) Often preceded by in or into: to inset (something) into a recess or niche.
   • That gargoyle recesses into the rest of architecture.
4. (figuratively, transitive) To conceal, to hide.
   • Get near fat Mr. Dutton, and behind the screen of his prodigious elbow, you will be comfortably recessed from curious impertinents.1808 (date written), [Maria] Edgeworth, “Manœuvring. Chapter XII.”, in Tales of Fashionable Life, volume III, London: […] [S. Hamilton] for J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1809, →OCLC, page 292
5. (US, transitive) To temporarily suspend (a meeting, the proceedings of an official body, etc.).
   • When Congress is recessed, he makes himself acquainted with those free United States, of which he is the gifted son.1842 December – 1844 July, Charles Dickens, “In which the Travellers Move Homeward, and Encounter Some Distinguished Characters upon the Way”, in The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, London...
6. (US, informal, transitive) To make a recess appointment in respect of (someone).
   • To the National Rifle Association's delight, the Senate has hobbled the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives by failing to confirm a director since 2006, but [Barack] Obama hasn't made a recess appointment. […] "The President's view of his own power is a constrained one," says White...2013 January 14, Michael Grunwald, “Cliff Dweller”, in Time, volume 181, number 1, New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 27, column 3

See all 28 meanings of recess