close

From Wiktionary
close is one of the 1000 most common headwords.
clock - close - clothe

Pronunciation[change]

Verb[change]

Plain form
close

Third-person singular
closes

Past tense
closed

Past participle
closed

Present participle
closing

  1. (transitive & intransitive) If you close something, you change it from being open to not open.
    She watched TV for a while, and then closed her eyes.
    He left the room and softly closed the door behind him.
    He opened his mouth and closed it again without saying anything.
  2. (transitive & intransitive) If something closes, it goes out of business for a short time or permanently.
    The supermarket closes at 5 o'clock on Saturday.
    Sadly, we have decided to close the shop.
  3. (transitive & intransitive) If the distance or time between two different things closes, they get closer together.
    The government will use the $15 million to close a budget gap.
    With only three games left in the season, Milan is closing in on Hamburg.
    The storm was closing in, and she wanted to get home.
  4. (transitive & intransitive) If something closes, it ends.
    The book closes with the man alone in the house where he started.
    I'd like to close this talk by asking for your help.
  5. (intransitive) If a stock, bond, or currency closes at a certain price, it is at the price at the end of the trading day.
    The EAP Emerging Growth Fund lost half a dollar, closing at just over $38.
    Again today, cigarette company stocks closed up.
  6. (transitive & intransitive) If you close a deal/sale/contract, both people make a final agreement.
    It took five months, many phone calls, and an extra $89,000 to close the deal.
  7. (intransitive) If you close up, you stop talking about something.
    Every time I asked about the cost everybody would close right up.

Related words[change]

Preposition[change]

Positive
close

Comparative
closer

Superlative
closest

The stars are close to each other.
  1. When two things are close, they are near each other; the distance or time between them is small.
    The bank is close to the store.
    I walk to my university because it is very close.
    It's close to nine o'clock.
    Closer to the end, I'll come and get you.
    Put it close to the door.
    She left an hour ago, and he was very close behind.
    I like to keep my phone close at hand so I can get it quickly.
    They stood close together.

Adjective[change]

Positive
close

Comparative
closer

Superlative
closest

  1. If two people are close, they have a good relationship, like friends, family or lovers.
    She was quite close to her dad before he died.
  2. If a game or contest is close, you can't easily see which side is better.
    The race has been very close up until now.
  3. If two things are close, they are similar.
    This is the closest thing I could find to that colour.
  4. (usually before a noun) Close range/contact/ties etc. is near, not far.
    They tell us the gun was fired at close range.
    Most Norwegians live in close contact with the wilderness, the sea, the mountains, or the forests.
  5. (usually before a noun) A close look, watch, or eye means careful attention.
    Keep a close eye on the money.
  6. In a close game/race/competition, etc., the difference between the scores/times/abilities, etc is small.
    One or two points can win or lose a close race .
    The winner earned 13.8 percent of the vote, but she was a close second (13.5 percent).
  7. If something was close, something bad/dangerous/embarrassing, etc. almost happened.
    Wow, that was close. She almost saw us.
    Thirty years ago this week, our country had a very close call.

See also[change]

Noun[change]

Singular
close

Plural
closes

  1. (usually singular) The close of something is the end.
    I will be surprised if the company is still running by close of business tomorrow.
    The book was written around the close of the 14th century.
    As our first week came to a close, we were getting very tired.