close

English Online Dictionary. What means close‎? What does close mean?

English

Etymology 1

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.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: klōz, IPA^(key): /kləʊz/
• (General American) enPR: klōz, IPA^(key): /kloʊz/
• Rhymes: -əʊz
• Homophones: cloze, clothes (when the /ð/ is omitted)

Verb

close (third-person singular simple present closes, present participle closing, simple past and past participle closed)

1. (physical) To remove or block an opening, gap or passage through.
   1. (ambitransitive) 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

      Antonym: open

      to close the ranks of an army
   2. (transitive) To obstruct or block.

      Synonyms: close off, close up, shut, shut off

      Antonym: open

   3. (intransitive) To become denser or more crowded with objects.

   4. (figuratively, transitive, intransitive) To make or become unreceptive.

   5. (transitive, intransitive, engineering, gas and liquid flow, of valve or damper) To move to a position preventing fluid from flowing.
   6. (transitive, intransitive, electricity, of a switch, fuse or circuit breaker) To move to a position allowing electricity to flow.
   7. To grapple; to engage in close combat.
      • 1856-1858, William H. Prescott, History of the Reign of Phillip II

        They boldly closed in a hand-to-hand contest.

   8. (transitive, intransitive, especially sports) To angle (a club, bat or other hitting implement) downwards and/or (for a right-hander) anticlockwise of straight.
2. To finish.
   1. (transitive) To end or conclude.

      Synonyms: complete, end, finish, wind up, wrap up

      Antonyms: begin, commence, initiate, start
   2. (intransitive) To finish; to come to an end.

      Synonyms: end, finish, wind up, wrap up

      Antonyms: begin, commence, start

   3. (ergative, marketing) To conclude (a sale).
   4. (transitive) To perform as the final act at (a show etc.).

   5. (transitive, baseball, pitching) To make the final outs, usually three, of a game.

   6. (transitive, finance) To cancel or reverse (a trading position).
3. To make or become non-operational or unavailable for use.
   1. (transitive) To put out of use or operation.

      Synonym: close down

   2. (intransitive) To cease operation or cease to be available.

   3. (intransitive, of a business, market etc.) To cease trading for the day, or permanently.

      Synonym: shut

      Antonym: open

   4. (intransitive) To do the tasks (putting things away, locking doors, etc.) required to prepare a store or other establishment to shut down for the night.

   5. (ergative, computing) To terminate an application, window, file or database connection, etc.

      Synonym: exit (an application)

      Antonyms: launch (an application), open, start (an application)

   6. (Philippines, Quebec) To turn off; to switch off.

4. (chiefly figurative) To come or gather around; to enclose.

   Synonyms: encompass, confine
5. (surveying) To have a vector sum of 0; that is, to form a closed polygon.

Usage notes

Due to the near-opposite meanings relating to fluid flow and electrical components, these usages are deprecated in safety-critical instructions, with the words to "on" or to "off" preferred, so instead of Close valve A; close switch B use Turn valve A to OFF; turn switch B to ON.

Conjugation

Hyponyms

• autoclose

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

close (plural closes)

1. An end or conclusion.
2. The manner of shutting; the union of parts; junction.
3. (sales) The point at the end of a sales pitch when the consumer is asked to buy.

   Synonym: closer
4. A grapple in wrestling.
5. (music) The conclusion of a strain of music; cadence.
6. (music) A double bar marking the end.
7. (aviation, travel) The time when check-in staff will no longer accept passengers for a flight.

Synonyms

• (end): end, finale

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “end”): beginning, start

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

Borrowed from French clos, from Latin clausum, participle of claudō.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: klōs, IPA^(key): /kləʊs/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /kloʊs/
• Rhymes: -əʊs

Adjective

close (comparative closer, superlative closest)

1. Having little difference or distance in place, position, or abstractly; see also close to.
   1. At little distance; near in space or time.
   2. Almost, but not quite (getting to an answer, goal, or other state); near.
   3. (in particular) Almost resulting in disaster.

   4. Nearly equal; almost evenly balanced; almost exactly matching.

   5. Adhering strictly to a standard or original; exact or nearly so.

   6. Intimate or immediate in personal relationship.

   7. Involving a tight connection; involving frequent communication, shared or cooperative activity, etc.

2. Compressed, restricted, constrained, etc.
   1. (archaic outside certain phrases) Physically narrow or confined.
   2. Tight, with little space separating components or elements.

   3. Strictly confined; carefully guarded.

   4. Tightly restricted in availability.

   5. (law) Of a corporation or other business entity, closely held.
   6. Oppressive; without motion or ventilation; causing a feeling of lassitude.
      • 1907, Algernon Blackwood, The Dance of Death [...]the artificial light and close air of his high office stool [...]
   7. (Ireland, UK, weather) Hot, humid, with no wind.
   8. (archaic) Dense; solid; compact.
3. Rigorous, careful, etc.
   1. Attentive; undeviating; strict.
   2. Carefully done, detailed.

   3. Accurate; precise. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
4. Short.

6. (now rare) Closed, shut.
8. (linguistics, phonetics, of a vowel) Articulated with the tongue body relatively close to the hard palate.
9. (heraldry, of a bird) With its wings at its side, closed, held near to its body (typically also statant); (of wings) in this posture.
10. (dated) Difficult to obtain.
11. (dated) Parsimonious; stingy.
12. (obsolete) Out of the way of observation; secluded; secret; hidden.
13. (archaic) Concise; to the point.
    • 1690, John Dryden, Translations (Preface)

      Where the original is close no version can reach it in the same compass.

14. Marked, evident.(Can we add an example for this sense?)

Synonyms

• (at little distance): close by, near, nearby; see also Thesaurus:near
• (intimate): intimate
• (hot, humid): muggy, oppressive; see also Thesaurus:muggy
• (articulated with the tongue body relatively close to the hard palate): high
• (dense, solid, compact): see also Thesaurus:compact

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “at little distance”): distant, far, faraway, far off, remote; see also Thesaurus:distant
• (antonym(s) of “intimate”): aloof, cool, distant
• (antonym(s) of “articulated with the tongue body relatively close to the hard palate”): open

Hyponyms

• this close, thisclose
• ultra-close

Derived terms

Translations

Adverb

close (comparative closer, superlative closest)

1. In a close manner (limited contexts; more often closely).
   1. So as to leave or create little distance or space between objects.

   2. Carefully, in detail.

   3. In combination (sometimes potentially ambiguous between adverb and adjective).

Noun

close (plural closes)

1. (now rare, chiefly Yorkshire) An enclosed field, especially a field enclosed around a (usually religious) building.
2. (chiefly 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.
6. (law) The interest which one may have in a piece of ground, even though it is not enclosed

Synonyms

• (street): cul-de-sac
• (narrow alley): See Thesaurus:alley

Derived terms

Translations

Descendants

• → Irish: clós
• → Welsh: clos

References

• “close”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Coles, coles, socle

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kloz/

Adjective

close

1. feminine singular of clos

Verb

close

1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive of clore

Participle

close f sg

1. feminine singular of clos

Further reading

• “close”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• socle

Middle English

Noun

close

1. plural of cloth

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English close.

Pronunciation

Noun

close m (plural closes)

1. (photography) close-up (photography in which the subject is shown at a large scale)

   Synonym: close-up

2. (Brazil, gay slang) attitude

   Synonym: carão

Derived terms