close
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: enpr: klōz
ipa: /kləʊz/
enpr: klōz
ipa: /kloʊz/
rhymes: -əʊz
homophone: cloze
homophone: clothes stripped-by-parse_pron_post_template_fn
Forms: form: closes
form: closing
form: closed
form: closed
form: no-table-tags
form: glossary
form: close
form: close
form: closed
form: close
form: closest
form: closed
form: closedst
form: closes
form: closeth
form: closed
form: close
form: closed
form: close
form: closed
form: close
form: -
form: closing
form: closed
Etymology: From Middle English closen (“to close, enclose”), partly continuing (in altered form) earlier Middle English clusen (“to close”) from Old English clȳsan (“to close, shut”); compare beclose, foreclose, etc.), and partly derived from Middle English clos (“close, shut up, confined, secret”, adjective), 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 *kleh₂w- (“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 (kleís, “bar, bolt, key”), German schließen (“to close, conclude, lock”), Dutch sluiten (“to close, conclude, lock”). Partially replaced Old English lūcan (“to close, lock, enclose”), (whence English lock). Doublet of clause.
Senses: examples: text: Close the door behind you when you leave.
text: Many flowers close at night.
text: Jim closed his eyes and reclined back in his chair.
text: The runner in second place is closing the gap on the leader.
text: to close the ranks of an army
text: What deep wounds ever closed without a scar?
ref: 1816, Lord Byron, “Canto III”, in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. Canto the Third, London: […] [F]or John Murray, […], →OCLC, stanza LXXXIV:
text: 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.
ref: 1977, Agatha Christie, chapter 2, in An Autobiography, part II, London: Collins, →ISBN:
glosses: To remove or block an opening, gap or passage through.
To move a thing, or part of a thing, nearer to another so that the gap or opening between the two is removed.
synonyms: close up
shut
antonyms: open
examples: text: They closed the road for the festival.
text: Ice has closed the channel to shipping.
glosses: To remove or block an opening, gap or passage through.
To obstruct or block.
synonyms: close off
close up
shut
shut off
antonyms: open
examples: text: As we penetrated further, the forest closed around us.
glosses: To remove or block an opening, gap or passage through.
To become denser or more crowded with objects.
examples: text: He has closed his mind to new ideas.
glosses: To remove or block an opening, gap or passage through.
To make or become unreceptive.
topics: engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
glosses: To remove or block an opening, gap or passage through.
To move to a position preventing fluid from flowing.
qualifier: gas and liquid flow
raw_tags: of valve or damper
topics: business
electrical-engineering
electricity
electromagnetism
energy
engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
physics
glosses: To remove or block an opening, gap or passage through.
To move to a position allowing electricity to flow.
qualifier: fuse or circuit breaker
raw_tags: of a switch
examples: 1856-1858, William H. Prescott, History of the Reign of Phillip II
They boldly closed in a hand-to-hand contest.
glosses: To remove or block an opening, gap or passage through.
To grapple; to engage in close combat.
topics: hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: To remove or block an opening, gap or passage through.
To angle (a club, bat or other hitting implement) downwards and/or (for a right-hander) anticlockwise of straight.
examples: text: The committee chairman made a few concluding remarks and then closed the session.
text: to close a bargain;   to close a course of instruction
text: One frugal supper did our studies close.
ref: 1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, John Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The Fifth Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […] Together with the Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC:
text: If these brief lays, of Sorrow born,
⁠Were taken to be such as closed
⁠Grave doubts and answers here proposed,
Then these were such as men might scorn: […]
ref: 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XLVII”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 70:
glosses: To finish.
To end or conclude.
synonyms: complete
end
finish
wind up
wrap up
antonyms: begin
commence
initiate
start
examples: text: The debate closed at six o'clock.
glosses: To finish.
To finish; to come to an end.
synonyms: end
finish
wind up
wrap up
antonyms: begin
commence
start
topics: business
marketing
glosses: To finish.
To conclude (a sale).
examples: text: Nirvana closed the festival.
glosses: To finish.
To perform as the final act at (a show etc.).
examples: text: He has closed the last two games for his team.
topics: ball-games
baseball
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: To finish.
To make the final outs, usually three, of a game.
qualifier: pitching
topics: business
finance
glosses: To finish.
To cancel or reverse (a trading position).
examples: text: We are closing the phone lines at 9 pm.
text: Your account has been closed because of non-payment.
text: They closed the airport because of a bomb scare.
glosses: To make or become non-operational or unavailable for use.
To put out of use or operation.
synonyms: close down
examples: text: Phone lines will close in ten minutes.
text: Our options are closing fast.
glosses: To make or become non-operational or unavailable for use.
To cease operation or cease to be available.
examples: text: The supermarket closes at eight o'clock.
text: Lots of shops in the town centre have closed because of the recession.
text: The FTSE 100 closed up 1.2%.
glosses: To make or become non-operational or unavailable for use.
To cease trading for the day, or permanently.
synonyms: shut
antonyms: open
qualifier: market etc.
raw_tags: of a business
examples: text: Whoever closed last night forgot to turn off the closet light.
glosses: To make or become non-operational or unavailable for use.
To do the tasks (putting things away, locking doors, etc.) required to prepare a store or other establishment to shut down for the night.
examples: text: Close the file when you have finished reading data.
text: This app has a bug: when you try to sort a large spreadsheet, it closes.
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: To make or become non-operational or unavailable for use.
To terminate an application, window, file or database connection, etc.
synonyms: exit
antonyms: launch
open
start
examples: text: Please close the lights, the (electric) fan, the TV.
glosses: To make or become non-operational or unavailable for use.
To turn off; to switch off.
qualifier: Greece
examples: text: The depth closed me round about.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Jonah 2:5:
text: 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.
ref: 1633, George Herbert, The Church:
synonyms: encompass
confine
glosses: To come or gather around; to enclose.
topics: geography
natural-sciences
surveying
glosses: To have a vector sum of 0; that is, to form a closed polygon.
Hyponyms: autoclose
Derived terms: word: autoclose
word: closable
word: closeable
word: close in upon
word: close round
word: close the books
word: close the door
word: close with
word: disclose
word: enclose
word: exclosure
word: foreclose
word: interclose
word: misclose
word: overclose
word: reclose
word: unclose
word: upclose
sense: Phrasal verbs and conversions formed from them
word: close down
sense: Phrasal verbs and conversions formed from them
word: close in
sense: Phrasal verbs and conversions formed from them
word: close in on
sense: Phrasal verbs and conversions formed from them
word: close off
sense: Phrasal verbs and conversions formed from them
word: close out
sense: Phrasal verbs and conversions formed from them
word: closeout
sense: Phrasal verbs and conversions formed from them
word: close up
sense: Phrasal verbs and conversions formed from them
word: close-up
sense: Compound words and expressions
word: case closed
sense: Compound words and expressions
word: closefisted
sense: Compound words and expressions
word: close for press
sense: Compound words and expressions
word: closemouthed
sense: Compound words and expressions
word: close one eye
sense: Compound words and expressions
word: close one's doors
sense: Compound words and expressions
word: close one's ears
sense: Compound words and expressions
word: close one's eyes
sense: Compound words and expressions
word: close one's mind
sense: Compound words and expressions
word: close ranks
sense: Compound words and expressions
word: close-stool
sense: Compound words and expressions
word: close the book on
sense: Compound words and expressions
word: close the door on
sense: Compound words and expressions
word: close the face
sense: Compound words and expressions
word: close the loop
sense: Compound words and expressions
word: close the range
sense: Compound words and expressions
word: close the stable door after the horse has bolted
sense: Compound words and expressions
word: number close
sense: Compound words and expressions
word: when one door closes, another opens
Related terms: clause