1. a covered walkway in a convent, monastery, or cathedral, typically with a wall on one side and a colonnade open to a quadrangle on the other
Usage: architectural
2. a convent or monastery
3. a place or situation of retreat or seclusion
Usage: figurative

1. to seclude or shut up in or as if in a convent or monastery

Examples

• The monks walked silently through the stone cloister.
• She admired the beautiful arches of the medieval cloister.
• He left the world behind to join a cloister in the mountains.
• The university became her cloister from the outside world.
• After the scandal, she cloistered herself in her country home.
• The nuns were cloistered from all contact with the outside world.
• The ancient cloister surrounded a peaceful garden courtyard.