The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Recess \Re*cess"\ (r[-e]*s[e^]s"), n. [L. recessus, fr.
   recedere, recessum. See Recede.]
   1. A withdrawing or retiring; a moving back; retreat; as, the
      recess of the tides.
      [1913 Webster]

            Every degree of ignorance being so far a recess and
            degradation from rationality.         --South.
      [1913 Webster]

            My recess hath given them confidence that I may be
            conquered.                            --Eikon
                                                  Basilike.
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   2. The state of being withdrawn; seclusion; privacy.
      [1913 Webster]

            In the recess of the jury they are to consider the
            evidence.                             --Sir M. Hale.
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            Good verse recess and solitude requires. --Dryden.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Remission or suspension of business or procedure;
      intermission, as of a legislative body, court, or school;
      as, the children were allowed to play in the school yard
      during recess.
      [1913 Webster]

            The recess of . . . Parliament lasted six weeks.
                                                  --Macaulay.
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   4. Part of a room formed by the receding of the wall, as an
      alcove, niche, etc.
      [1913 Webster]

            A bed which stood in a deep recess.   --W. Irving.
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   5. A place of retirement, retreat, secrecy, or seclusion.
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            Departure from this happy place, our sweet
            Recess, and only consolation left.    --Milton.
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   6. Secret or abstruse part; as, the difficulties and recesses
      of science; the deepest recesses of the mind. --I. Watts.
      [1913 Webster +PJC]

   7. (Bot. & Zool.) A sinus.
      [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Recess \Re*cess"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Recessed; p. pr. & vb.
   n. Recessing.]
   To make a recess in; as, to recess a wall.
   [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Recess \Re*cess"\, n. [G.]
   A decree of the imperial diet of the old German empire.
   --Brande & C.
   [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

recess
    n 1: a state of abeyance or suspended business [syn: deferral,
         recess]
    2: a small concavity [syn: recess, recession, niche,
       corner]
    3: an arm off of a larger body of water (often between rocky
       headlands) [syn: inlet, recess]
    4: an enclosure that is set back or indented [syn: recess,
       niche]
    5: a pause from doing something (as work); "we took a 10-minute
       break"; "he took time out to recuperate" [syn: respite,
       recess, break, time out]
    v 1: put into a recess; "recess lights"
    2: make a recess in; "recess the piece of wood"
    3: close at the end of a session; "The court adjourned" [syn:
       adjourn, recess, break up]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

231 Moby Thesaurus words for "recess":
   Jim Crow, abeyance, adjourn, adytum, alcove, apartheid, apartness,
   ashram, asylum, bay, bolt-hole, bosom, break, breath, breathe,
   breather, breathing place, breathing space, breathing spell,
   breathing time, cache, caesura, call a break, call a recess,
   call time, carrel, cease-fire, cell, center, cigarette break,
   cloister, cocktail hour, coffee break, concealment, continue, core,
   corner, cove, cover, covert, coverture, cranny, cubby, cubbyhole,
   cubicle, dark corner, day off, declare a recess, deepest recesses,
   defer, delay, den, dent, depress, depths, detachment, dimple, dint,
   dissolve, downtime, drag out, drop, dugout, enforced respite,
   engrave, extend, foxhole, funk hole, half time,
   half-time intermission, halt, hang fire, hang up, happy hour,
   heart, heart of hearts, hermitage, hesitate, hesitation, hideaway,
   hideout, hidey hole, hiding, hiding place, hold off, hold over,
   hold up, hole, holiday, hollow, holy of holies, impress, imprint,
   indent, inglenook, inner, inner landscape, inner life, inner man,
   inner nature, inner recess, inner self, inside, interim, interior,
   interior man, interlude, intermezzo, intermission, intermit,
   intermittence, intern, internal, interregnum, interruption,
   interval, intervene, intrados, inward, isolation, isolationism,
   ivory tower, knock off, lair, lapse, lay aside, lay by, lay off,
   lay over, layoff, let up, letup, lull, mew, niche, nook, notch,
   off-time, oriel, pause, penetralia, pigeonhole, pit, pitchhole,
   plateau, pock, pockmark, point of repose, postpone, press in,
   privacy, privatism, privatization, prolong, prorogate, prorogue,
   protract, punch, punch in, push aside, put aside, put off,
   put on ice, quarantine, quiet spell, recesses, recession,
   reclusion, refuge, relief, remission, reserve, respite, rest,
   resting point, retirement, retreat, rise, roomlet, rustication,
   sanctuary, sanctum, sanctum sanctorum, seclusion, secrecy,
   secret place, secret places, segregation, separation,
   sequestration, set aside, set back, set by, set in, shelve,
   shift off, sleep on, snuggery, soul, spell, splendid isolation,
   stamp, stand over, stand-down, stash, stave off, stay,
   stop for breath, stretch out, surcease, suspend, suspension, table,
   take a break, take a recess, take a rest, take five, take ten,
   take time out, tamp, tea break, terminate, time off, time out,
   truce, undercovert, vacation, vital center, vitals, waive,
   withdrawal