closet

closet
   1. a lavatory
   Literally, a small or private room. The word usually comes with the descriptive prefixes earth or water, whence the initials EC and WC, and the charming French noun le water.
   2. concealing in public your homosexuality
   Again from the small or private room where you act according to your inclinations. Usually of a male, as in the phrases closet queen or closet queer, but occasionally of a female:
    I often wondered if she was a closet lez. (Sanders, 1977)
   Whence in the closet for a homosexual who so acts:
    To me it figured that Bert was in the closet. (Turow, 1993 — Bert was found to be subscribing to a periodical for homosexuals)
   To come out of the closet or come out is to cease to hide your homosexuality from the public.
   In occasional and convoluted use, a closet homosexual may be a heterosexual male who affects homosexuality, as for example to avert the suspicions of a cuckolded husband:
    Dexter Dempster, New York's leading closet homosexual... (M. Thomas, 1980 — Dexter was cuckolding someone)

How not to say what you mean: A dictionary of euphemisms. . 2014.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Closet — Clos et, n. [OF. closet little inclosure, dim. of clos. See {Close} an inclosure.] 1. A small room or apartment for retirement; a room for privacy. [1913 Webster] A chair lumbered closet, just twelve feet by nine. Goldsmith. [1913 Webster] When… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • closet — [kläz′it] n. [OFr, small enclosure, dim. of clos: see CLOSE1] 1. a small room or cupboard for clothes, household supplies, linens, etc. 2. a small, private room for reading, meditation, etc. 3. a monarch s private chamber as for prayer or… …   English World dictionary

  • Closet — Clos et, v. t. [imp. & p. p.{Closeted} p. pr. & vb. n. {Closeting}.] 1. To shut up in, or as in, a closet; to conceal. [R.] [1913 Webster] Bedlam s closeted and handcuffed charge. Cowper. [1913 Webster] 2. To make into a closet for a secret… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • closet — (n.) late 14c., from O.Fr. closet small enclosure, private room, dim. of clos, from L. clausum closed space, from neut. pp. of claudere to shut (see CLOSE (Cf. close) (v.)). In Matt. vi:6 used to render L. cubiculum bedchamber, bedroom, Gk.… …   Etymology dictionary

  • closet — ► NOUN 1) chiefly N. Amer. a tall cupboard or wardrobe. 2) a small room. 3) archaic a toilet. 4) (the closet) (especially with reference to homosexuality) a state of secrecy or concealment. 5) (before another noun ) secret; covert: a closet… …   English terms dictionary

  • clóset — Voz tomada del inglés americano closet (‘armario’), que se usa en la mayor parte de América con el sentido de ‘armario construido en el hueco de una pared’. Es anglicismo asentado en el español americano. Su plural es clósets (→ plural, 1h): «No… …   Diccionario panhispánico de dudas

  • clóset — (Del ingl. closet). m. Am. Armario empotrado …   Diccionario de la lengua española

  • Closet — (fr., spr. Klosäh), 1) ein Raum für Utensilien; 2) veraltet für Boudoir …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • closet — index chamber (compartment), hide, private (confidential), sequester (seclude), shroud Bur …   Law dictionary

  • closet — [n] storage cupboard, usually tall ambry, bin, buffet, cabinet, chest of drawers, clothes room, cold storage, container, depository, locker, receptacle, recess, repository, room, safe, sideboard, vault, walk in, wardrobe; concept 440 …   New thesaurus

  • Closet — For other uses, see Closet (disambiguation). A wall closet in a residential house in the United States …   Wikipedia

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