closetful

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clos·et

(klŏz′ĭt, klô′zĭt)

1. A cabinet or enclosed recess for linens, household supplies, or clothing.

2. A small private chamber, as for study or prayer.

3. A water closet; a toilet.

4. A state of secrecy or cautious privacy: Two days before the election, the candidate suddenly came out of the closet and denounced the proposed law.

tr.v. clos·et·ed, clos·et·ing, clos·ets

To enclose or shut up in a private room, as for discussion: closeted themselves with their attorneys.

adj.

1. Private; confidential: closet information.

2. Being so or engaging only in private; secret: a closet proponent of a tax increase; a closet alcoholic.

3. Based on theory and speculation rather than practice.

[Middle English, private room, from Old French, diminutive of clos, enclosure, from Latin clausum, from neuter of clausus, enclosed; see close.]

clos′et·ful′ n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

closetful

(ˈklɒzɪtfʊl)

a quantity that may be contained in a closet

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

References in periodicals archive ?

In a crowded field of Republicans that included a closetful of governors and other senators, Cruz snuggled up to Trump as the businessman tore up the other candidates.

Analysis: Ted Cruz Trumps Bid for Unity

I drove a fancy car, had a closetful of expensive clothes and wore a watch that cost the equivalent of a down payment on a house.

Becoming rich

THE TOPIC: Up to his death in 2009, John Updike was one of the most acclaimed and prolific American writers of the second half of the 20th century, with dozens of novels, hundreds of short stories and essays, and a closetful of major awards to his credit.

Updike

Plus, parents who grew up as less-than-fortunate, for example, want to give their children all the things that they themselves missed out on in their childhood - tons of toys, all their favorite food, a closetful of clothes, all at the snap of a finger -- or in some cases, a few episodes of tears and foot-stomping at the mall.

Sick with 'Affluenza'

I am the locus of many of her efforts; she sews a closetful of clothes for me and gives me dozens of dolls.