[ verb klohz; adjective,adverb klohs or, for 51, klohz; noun klohz for 59, 60, 63-65, 67, 68, klohs for 61, 62, 66 ]
/ verb kloʊz; adjective,adverb kloʊs or, for 51, kloʊz; noun kloʊz for 59, 60, 63-65, 67, 68, kloʊs for 61, 62, 66 /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR close ON THESAURUS.COM
verb (used with object),closed,clos·ing.
to put (something) in a position to obstruct an entrance, opening, etc.; shut.
to stop or obstruct (a gap, entrance, aperture, etc.): to close a hole in a wall with plaster.
to block or hinder passage across or access to: to close a border to tourists; to close the woods to picnickers.
to stop or obstruct the entrances, apertures, or gaps in: He closed the crate and tied it up.
(of the mind) to make imperceptive or inaccessible: to close one's mind to the opposite opinion.
to bring together the parts of; join; unite (often followed by up): Close up those ranks! The surgeon closed the incision.
Electricity. to complete (an electrical circuit) by joining the circuit elements: The circuit was closed so the current could be measured.
to bring to an end: to close a debate.
to arrange the final details of; to conclude negotiations about: to close a deal to everyone's satisfaction.
to complete or settle (a contract or transaction); consummate: We close the sale of the house next week.
to stop rendering the customary services of: to close a store for the night.
to terminate or suspend the operation of; to halt the activities of: The epidemic forced authorities to close the schools. The police closed the bar for selling liquor to minors.
Nautical. to come close to: We closed the cruiser to put our injured captain on board.
Metalworking. to reduce the internal diameter of (a tube or the like).
Archaic. to shut in or surround on all sides; enclose; cover in: to close a bird in a cage.
verb (used without object),closed,clos·ing.
to become closed; shut: The door closed with a bang. This window is stuck and will not close tight.
to come together; unite: Her lips closed firmly.
to come close: His pursuers closed rapidly.
to grapple; engage in close encounter (often followed by with): We closed with the invaders shortly before sundown.
to come to an end; terminate: The service closed with a hymn.
to cease to offer the customary activities or services: The school closed for the summer.
to enter into or reach an agreement, usually as a contract: The builder closed with the contractor after negotiations.
(of a theatrical production) to cease to be performed: The play closed in New York yesterday and will open in Dallas next week.
(of a stock, group of stocks, etc.) to be priced or show a change in price as specified at the end of a trading period: The market closed low for the fourth straight day.
adjective,clos·er,clos·est.
having the parts or elements near to one another: a close formation of battleships.
compact; dense: a close texture; a close weave.
being in or having proximity in space or time: The barn is so close to the house that you can hear the animals. His birthday is in May, close to mine.
marked by similarity in degree, action, feeling, etc.: This dark pink is close to red. He left her close to tears.
near, or near together, in kind or relationship: a flower close to a rose; a close relative.
intimate or confidential; dear.
based on a strong uniting feeling of respect, honor, or love: a close circle of friends.
fitting tightly: a close, clinging negligee.
(of a haircut or shave, the mowing of a lawn, etc.) so executed that the hair, grass, or the like is left flush with the surface or very short.
not deviating from the subject under consideration.
strict; searching; minute: The matter requires close investigation.
not deviating from a model or original: a close, literal translation.
nearly even or equal: a close contest.
strictly logical: close reasoning.
shut; shut tight; not open: a close hatch.
shut in; enclosed.
completely enclosing or surrounding: a close siege preventing all escape.
without opening; with all openings covered or closed.
confined; narrow: close quarters.
lacking fresh or freely circulating air: a hot, close room.
heavy; oppressive: a spell of close, sultry weather.
narrowly confined, as a prisoner.
practicing or keeping secrecy; secretive; reticent: She is so close that you can tell her all your secrets.
parsimonious; stingy: He is very close with his money.
scarce, as money.
not open to public or general admission, competition, etc.: The entire parish participated in the close communication.
(of a delimiting punctuation mark) occurring at the end of a group of words or characters that is set off, as from surrounding text: close parentheses; close quotes; close brackets.Compare open (def. 32).
Hunting, Angling. closed (def. 8).
Phonetics. (of a vowel) articulated with a relatively small opening between the tongue and the roof of the mouth.Compare high (def. 23), open (def. 35a).
Heraldry. (of a bird) represented as having folded wings: an eagle close.
Archaic. viscous; not volatile.
adverb
in a close manner; closely.
near; close by.
Heraldry. immediately behind the ears, so as to show no neck: a bear's head couped close.
noun
the act of closing.
the end or conclusion: at the close of day; the close of the speech.
an enclosed place or enclosure, especially one about or beside a cathedral or other building.
any piece of land held as private property.
complimentary close.
Music. cadence (def. 7).
Stock Exchange.
the closing price on a stock.
the closing prices on an exchange market.
Scot.
a narrow entry or alley terminating in a dead end.
a courtyard enclosed except for one narrow entrance.
Archaic. a junction; union.
Obsolete. a close encounter; a grapple: The fighters met in a fierce close.
Verb Phrases
close down,
to terminate the operation of; discontinue: to close down an air base because of budget cuts.
to attempt to control or eliminate: The city must close down drug traffic.
close in on / upon
to approach so as to capture, attack, arrest, etc.: The hoodlums closed in on their victim.
to surround or envelop so as to entrap: a feeling that the room was closing in upon her.
close out,
to reduce the price of (merchandise) for quick sale: That store is closing out its stock of men's clothing.
to liquidate or dispose of finally and completely: They closed out their interests after many years in this city.
close up,
to come together in close array; converge: The enemy was closing up on us from both flanks.
to bring to an end; cease: The company is closing up its overseas operations.
to become silent or uncommunicative.
to reduce or eliminate spacing material between (units of set type).
Idioms for close
close ranks, to unite forces, especially by overlooking petty differences, in order to deal with an adverse or challenging situation; to join together in a show of unity, especially to the public: When the newspaper story broke suggesting possible corruption in the government, the politicians all closed ranks.
close to the wind, Nautical. in a direction nearly opposite to that from which the wind is coming: to sail close to the wind.
close up,
from close range; in a detailed manner; intimately.
Nautical.fully raised; at the top of the halyard: an answering pennant flown close up.Compare dip1 (def. 37).
Origin of close
First recorded before 1050; Middle English noun, adjective clos(e), cloce, from Anglo-French, Old French clos, from Latin clausus, past participle of claudere “to shut, close”; Middle English verb closen, from Old French clos(e), past participle of clore “to shut, close off”; replacing Old English clȳsan, beclȳsan “to shut in, enclose,” derivative of clūse “bar, enclosure, cloister,” from Medieval Latin clūsa, for Latin clausa, noun use of feminine of clausus “enclosed, shut”
SYNONYMS FOR close
2 bar; clog; choke.
8 complete, end, conclude, terminate, finish.
21 stop; suspend.
26 firm, solid.
27 immediate, proximate, nearby.
35 intent, concentrated.
36 scrupulous, exacting, accurate, faithful.
45 muggy, thick.
47 taciturn, uncommunicative, reserved.
48 penurious, miserly, tight, mean.
SEE SYNONYMS FOR close ON THESAURUS.COM
synonym study for close
2. Close,shut mean to cause something not to be open. Close suggests blocking an opening or vacant place: to close a breach in a wall. The word shut refers especially to blocking or barring openings intended for entering and leaving: to shut a door, gate, etc., and close can be used in this sense, too: to close a door, gate, etc.48. See stingy1. 59. See end1.
non·close·ly,adverbo·ver·close,adjectiveo·ver·close·ly,adverbo·ver·close·ness,nounpre·close,verb (used with object),pre·closed,pre·clos·ing.un·clos·a·ble,adjective
WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH close
close , clothes, cloze
Words nearby close
Cloquet's hernia, clorazepate, Clorinda, Cloris, clos, close, close-at-hand, Close, but no cigar, close-by, close call, close communion
Those close to him believe he would be fine with having a vote on another package before they leave town, even if it’s smaller than the plan Pelosi wants.
Trump moves closer to Pelosi in economic aid talks, and House speaker must decide next move|Rachael Bade, Erica Werner|September 17, 2020|Washington Post
The Bedminster club temporarily closed down operations on March 17, after Murphy imposed new restrictions on businesses and social gatherings because of the pandemic.
Trump’s businesses charged Secret Service more than $1.1 million, including for rooms in club shuttered for pandemic|David Fahrenthold, Josh Dawsey|September 17, 2020|Washington Post
The results were closer among Republicans, 41 percent of whom said the theory didn’t hurt the country and 50 percent of whom said it did.
Trump contradicts CDC director on vaccine; Biden says Americans shouldn’t trust Trump|Colby Itkowitz, Felicia Sonmez, John Wagner|September 16, 2020|Washington Post
If I didn’t close it, I think you’d have 2 million deaths instead of having the 185,000 — 190,000.
The problem with Trump’s ‘herd mentality’ line isn’t the verbal flub. It’s the mass death.|Philip Bump|September 16, 2020|Washington Post
Along with the entire automaker sector, Honda’s business felt the hit from the coronavirus crisis early on as global lockdowns caused factories to close and kept consumers away from dealerships.
‘A credible voice’: Why Honda is doubling down on esports|Lara O'Reilly|September 16, 2020|Digiday
The two strengthened ties over the years and now Krauss considers Epstein a “close” and “considerate” friend.
Sleazy Billionaire’s Double Life Featured Beach Parties With Stephen Hawking|M.L. Nestel|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Ney said McDonnell needs to “keep a stiff lip” and stay in close contact with family members.
Abramoff’s Advice for Virginia’s New Jailhouse Guv|Tim Mak, Jackie Kucinich|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
According to James, by 2014 his business did close to $2 million in overall sales.
Career-Minded Women Turn to Male Escorts For No-Strings Fun and (Maybe) Sex|Aurora Snow|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
As the year draws to a close, these goals remain unfulfilled and the news from CAR continues to be harrowing.
The Year’s Most Forgotten Humanitarian Crisis|Nina Strochlic|January 1, 2015|DAILY BEAST
This is known as close air support, or CAS, in military jargon.
New U.S. Stealth Jet Can’t Fire Its Gun Until 2019|Dave Majumdar|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
They know I'm close to Bobby and they'd like to have him on their side, for all their avowed independence.
And Then the Town Took Off|Richard Wilson
Afar, is the reign of philosophy; close up is the chaos of the Carlovingian era.
The Origins of Contemporary France, Volume 2 (of 6)|Hippolyte A. Taine
After a light dinner I lay down on my bed, but it was too close and hot to sleep.
Sport and Work on the Nepaul Frontier|James Inglis
Pass under the chain-gate, turn sharply to the left under another archway, and the Close is before you.
Somerset|G.W. Wade and J.H. Wade
His intimate friend, who came with him, had the good fortune to be close to Bertha, and had witnessed all that had occurred.
Materialized Apparitions|Edward Augustus Brackett
British Dictionary definitions for close (1 of 2)
close1
/ (kləʊs) /
adjective
near in space or time; in proximity
having the parts near together; densea close formation
down or near to the surface; shorta close haircut
near in relationshipa close relative
intimate or confidentiala close friend
almost equal or evena close contest
not deviating or varying greatly from a model or standarda close resemblance; a close translation
careful, strict, or searchinga close study
(of a style of play in football, hockey, etc) characterized by short passes
confined or enclosed
shut or shut tight
oppressive, heavy, or airlessa close atmosphere
strictly guardeda close prisoner
neat or tight in fita close cap
secretive or reticent
miserly; not generous, esp with money
(of money or credit) hard to obtain; scarce
restricted as to public admission or membership
hidden or secluded
Also: closedrestricted or prohibited as to the type of game or fish able to be taken
Also: closed, narrowphoneticsdenoting a vowel pronounced with the lips relatively close together
adverb
closely; tightly
near or in proximity
close to the windnauticalsailing as nearly as possible towards the direction from which the wind is blowingSee also wind 1 (def. 26)
Derived forms of close
closely, adverbcloseness, noun
Word Origin for close
C13: from Old French clos close, enclosed, from Latin clausus shut up, from claudere to close
British Dictionary definitions for close (2 of 2)
close2
/ (kləʊz) /
verb
to put or be put in such a position as to cover an opening; shutthe door closed behind him
(tr)to bar, obstruct, or fill up (an entrance, a hole, etc)to close a road
to bring the parts or edges of (a wound, etc) together or (of a wound, etc) to be brought together
(intr; foll by on, over, etc)to take holdhis hand closed over the money
to bring or be brought to an end; terminate
to complete (an agreement, a deal, etc) successfully or (of an agreement, deal, etc) to be completed successfully
to cease or cause to cease to render servicethe shop closed at six
(intr)stock exchangeto have a value at the end of a day's trading, as specifiedsteels closed two points down
to complete an electrical circuit
(tr)nauticalto pass near
(tr)archaicto enclose or shut in
close one's eyes
euphemisticto die
(often foll by to)to ignore
noun
the act of closing
the end or conclusionthe close of the day
a place of joining or meeting
(kləʊs) lawprivate property, usually enclosed by a fence, hedge, or wall
(kləʊs) Britisha courtyard or quadrangle enclosed by buildings or an entry leading to such a courtyard
(kləʊs) British(capital when part of a street name)a small quiet residential roadHillside Close
Britisha field
(kləʊs) the precincts of a cathedral or similar building
(kləʊs) Scotthe entry from the street to a tenement building
music another word for cadence
archaic, orrarean encounter in battle; grapple
See also close down, close in, close out, close-up, close with