1. a large dining hall, especially in a monastery, convent, college, or school

Examples

• The monks gathered in the refectory for their evening meal.
• Students lined up outside the college refectory at lunchtime.
• The medieval abbey’s refectory could seat over a hundred people.
• We ate our meals in silence in the convent refectory.
• The school refectory served hot meals to all the boarding students.
• Long wooden tables filled the monastery’s ancient refectory.