closeting

Pluralclosetings

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of closet.

   The minister was closeting with the ambassador when the news finally broke.

   Closeting herself away from the noise, she at last began to write.

   Note

   The -ing form of a verb that takes an object: you closet someone, or yourself, for a private talk, a secret interrogation or plain seclusion. With a reflexive object, as in closeting herself away, the stress falls on solitude rather than secrecy. The same spelling also works as a countable noun with the plural closetings, naming a private conference itself.

2. 2
   nounhistoricalcountable

   A private conference or interview conducted away from others.

   The two leaders held a lengthy closeting before the treaty was finally signed.

   Their secret closeting in the back room raised suspicion among the courtiers.

   Similarconference, meeting, huddle, conclave

   Note

   A word for writing about the past rather than for everyday talk. A closeting was a meeting held behind a shut door, the kind that set onlookers whispering. It is countable, so it takes an article and a plural, closetings. In prose about present-day events, a private meeting or a closed-door talk says the same thing without sounding like a period piece.

Showing meanings only. Show all 2