recess meaning and examples

2025-09-02

Meaning

Recess has two main meanings:

  1. (noun) A short break or pause in work, school, or activity (especially a break time at school).
  2. (noun) A small space, hollow, or alcove set back from a surface or wall.
  3. (verb) To take a break, to suspend proceedings temporarily.

Grammar and Usage

  • Part of speech: Noun, Verb

  • As a noun: “recess” is often uncountable when used for breaks (e.g., at recess) but can be countable for alcoves (e.g., a recess in the wall).

  • As a verb: “to recess” means to take a break, usually in formal contexts such as courts or meetings.

  • Common sentence structures:

    • Students go outside at recess.
    • The court recessed for lunch.
    • A candle sat in a recess in the wall.

Common Phrases

  • School recess – break time for students.
  • Summer recess – a break period for parliament or government sessions.
  • In recess – currently suspended or on break.

Collocations

  • morning recess
  • lunch recess
  • court recess
  • long recess
  • deep recess (in the wall)

Examples

  1. The children ran to the playground during recess.
  2. Parliament is in recess until next month.
  3. The judge announced that the court would recess for the day.
  4. A small statue was placed in a recess above the fireplace.
  5. We had two short recesses between morning classes.
  6. The teacher rang the bell to end recess.
  7. The company recessed the meeting until further notice.
  8. Tourists admired the ancient carvings hidden in the recesses of the cave.
  • Break, pause, interval (for time)
  • Niche, alcove, hollow (for space)
  • Adjourn, suspend (for verb usage in formal settings)