Close

Pronunciation

• UK enPR: klōz, IPA: /kləʊz/
• Rhymes: -əʊz
• US enPR: klōz, IPA: /kloÊŠz/
• Homophones: clothes syncopated pronunciation
• Rhymes: -oÊŠz

From Middle English closen ("to close, enclose"), partly continuing (in altered form) earlier Middle English clusen (); and partly derived from the Middle English adjective clos ("close, shut up, confined, secret"), from Old French clos ("close, confined", adjective.), from Latin clausus ("shut up", past participle.), from claudere ("to bar, block, close, enclose, bring an end to, confine"), from Proto-Indo-European *klāw- ("key, hook, nail"), related to Latin clāvis ("key, deadbolt, bar"), clāvus ("nail, peg"), claustrum ("bar, bolt, barrier"), claustra ("dam, wall, barricade, stronghold"). Cognate with Ancient Greek κλείς ("bar, bolt, key"), German schließen ("to close, conclude, lock"), Dutch sluiten ("to close, conclude, lock"). Replaced Old English lūcan ("to close, lock, enclose").

Full definition of close

Verb

1. (physical) To remove a gap.
1. To obstruct (an opening).
2. To move so that an opening is closed.
   Close the door behind you when you leave.
   Jim was listening to headphones with his eyes closed.
• Lord Byron (1788-1824)What deep wounds ever closed without a scar?
• 1977, Agatha Christie, An Autobiography Chapter 2, If I close my eyes I can see Marie today as I saw her then. Round, rosy face, snub nose, dark hair piled up in a chignon.
3. To make (e.g. a gap) smaller.
   The runner in second place is closing the gap on the leader.
   to close the ranks of an army
4. To grapple; to engage in close combat.
• William H. Prescott (1796-1859)They boldly closed in a hand-to-hand contest.
2. (social) To finish, to terminate.
1. To put an end to; to conclude; to complete; to finish; to consummate.
   close the session;   to close a bargain;   to close a course of instruction
• John Dryden (1631-1700)One frugal supper did our studies close.
2. To come to an end.
   The debate closed at six o'clock.
3. (marketing) To make a sale.
4. (baseball, pitching) To make the final outs, usually three, of a game.
   He has closed the last two games for his team.
5. (figurative, computing) To terminate an application, window, file or database connection, etc.
6. To come or gather around; to enclose; to encompass; to confine.
• Bible, Jonah ii. 5The depth closed me round about.
• George Herbert (1593-1633)But now Thou dost Thyself immure and close
  In some one corner of a feeble heart;
  Where yet both Sinne and Satan, Thy old foes,
  Do pinch and straiten Thee, and use much art
  To gain Thy thirds' and little part.
7. (surveying) To have a vector sum of 0; that is, to form a closed polygon.

Synonyms

• (obstruct (an opening)) close off, close up, cover, shut, shut off
• (move (a door)) shut
• (put an end to) end, finish, terminate, wind up, close down
• (make (a gap) smaller) narrow
• (terminate a computer program) close out, exit

Antonyms

• (obstruct (an opening)) open
• (move (a door)) open
• (put an end to) begin, commence, initiate, start
• (make (a gap) smaller) extend, widen
• (terminate a computer program) open, start

Derived terms

Noun

1. An end or conclusion.We owe them our thanks for bringing the project to a successful close.
• MacaulayHis long and troubled life was drawing to a close.
2. The manner of shutting; the union of parts; junction.
• ChapmanThe doors of plank were; their close exquisite.
3. A grapple in wrestling.
4. (music) The conclusion of a strain of music; cadence.
• DrydenAt every close she made, the attending throng
  Replied, and bore the burden of the song.
5. (music) A double bar marking the end.

Synonyms

• (end) end, finale

Antonyms

• (end) beginning, start

Pronunciation

• UK enPR: klōs, IPA: /kləʊs/
• Rhymes: -əʊs
• US IPA: /kloÊŠs/
• Rhymes: -oÊŠs

From French clos, from Latin clausum, participle of claudo.

Adjective

1. (now rare) Closed, shut.
• 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Matthew chapter 8:There is nothinge so close, that shall not be openned, and nothinge so hyd that shall not be knowen.
• DrydenFrom a close bower this dainty music flowed.
2. Narrow; confined.a close alley; close quarters
• Charles Dickensa close prison
3. At a little distance; near.
• 1918, W. B. Maxwell, The Mirror and the Lamp Chapter 7, … St. Bede's at this period of its history was perhaps the poorest and most miserable parish in the East End of London. Close-packed, crushed by the buttressed height of the railway viaduct, rendered airless by huge walls of factories, it at once banished lively interest from a stranger's mind and left only a dull oppression of the spirit.
• 2013-06-01, End of the peer show, Finance is seldom romantic. But the idea of peer-to-peer lending comes close. This is an industry that brings together individual savers and lenders on online platforms. Those that want to borrow are matched with those that want to lend.
4. Is your house close?
5. Intimate; well-loved.
   He is a close friend.
1. (legal) Of a corporation or other business entity, closely held.
6. Oppressive; without motion or ventilation; causing a feeling of lassitude.
• Francis BaconIf the rooms be low-roofed, or full of windows and doors, the one maketh the air close, ... and the other maketh it exceeding unequal.
7. (Ireland, England, Scotland, weather) Hot, humid, with no wind.
8. (linguistics, phonetics, of a vowel) Articulated with the tongue body relatively close to the hard palate.
9. Strictly confined; carefully guarded.a close prisoner
10. (obsolete) Out of the way of observation; secluded; secret; hidden.
• Bible, 1 Chron. xii. 1He yet kept himself close because of Saul.
• Spenserher close intent
11. Nearly equal; almost evenly balanced.a close contest
12. Short.to cut grass or hair close
13. (archaic) Dense; solid; compact.
• John LockeThe golden globe being put into a press, ... the water made itself way through the pores of that very close metal.
14. (archaic) Concise; to the point.close reasoning
• DrydenWhere the original is close no version can reach it in the same compass.
15. (dated) Difficult to obtain.Money is close.
16. (dated) Parsimonious; stingy.
• Hawthornea crusty old fellow, as close as a vice
17. Adhering strictly to a standard or original; exact.a close translation
18. Accurate; careful; precise; also, attentive; undeviating; strict.The patient was kept under close observation.

Synonyms

• (at a little distance) close by, near, nearby
• (intimate) intimate
• (hot, humid) muggy, oppressive
• (articulated with the tongue body relatively close to the hard palate) high

Antonyms

• (at a little distance) distant, far, far away, far off, remote
• (intimate) aloof, cool, distant
• (articulated with the tongue body relatively close to the hard palate) open

Derived terms

Noun

1. (now rare) An enclosed field.
2. (British) A street that ends in a dead end.
3. (Scotland) A very narrow alley between two buildings, often overhung by one of the buildings above the ground floor.
4. (Scotland) The common staircase in a tenement.
5. A cathedral close.
• Macaulaycloses surrounded by the venerable abodes of deans and canons.
6. (legal) The interest which one may have in a piece of ground, even though it is not enclosed.

Synonyms

• (street) cul-de-sac

Anagrams

• coles, socle