to cloister away
- phrasal verb
- /ˈklɔɪstər əˈweɪ/
- The novelist would often cloister away in her study to focus on her writing without distractions.
Examples
-
He decided to cloister away in the mountains for a month.
-
Many writers cloister away in quiet cabins to focus.
-
After losing his job, he decided to cloister away in his apartment and avoid his friends for a while.
-
They cloistered away the rare manuscripts in a secure room, away from public view.
-
After losing his job, he decided to cloister away in his apartment and avoid his friends for a while.
-
The novelist would often cloister away in her study to focus on her writing without distractions.
-
He decided to cloister away in the mountains for a month.
Synonyms
To keep someone or something apart from others
To stay in a secret place to avoid danger or trouble
To shut someone in a small room to talk or work privately
To shut someone or yourself away from the outside world
Keep people and things in a place where they cannot leave or be seen
To keep somebody away from other people
To keep yourself away from other people on purpose
Antonyms
How Isolating
Surface Forms
Morphology
The verb 'cloister' already means to seclude and the particle 'away' adds the sense of being apart or removed from society, so the combined meaning is directly derivable from the constituents. This verb + particle composition is a standard, compositional pattern in English and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both words.
Etymology
Cloister away comes from old monasteries: a cloister was a quiet covered path or courtyard where monks lived apart from the world. So to cloister away means 'to keep yourself or someone in a quiet, private place'.