If you close /kləʊz/ something such as a door, you move it so that it covers or fills a hole or gap.
You can also say that you shut something such as a door. There is no difference in meaning. The past tense and -ed participle of shut is shut.
Both closed and shut can be adjectives used after a linking verb.
You can use either close or shut to say that work or business stops for a short time in a shop or public building.
Only closed can be used in front of a noun. You can talk about a closed window, but not a 'shut' window.
You can say that a road, border, or airport is closed.
Don't say that a road, border, or airport 'is shut'.
Be Careful!
Don't confuse the verb close with the adjective close /kləʊs/. If something is close to something else, it is near to it.
If something is near, near to, or close to a place or thing, it is a short distance from it. When close has this meaning, it is pronounced /kləʊs/.
When near and close have this meaning, don't use them immediately in front of a noun. Instead use nearby.
However, the superlative form nearest can be used immediately in front of a noun.
You can use near immediately in front of a noun to say that something is almost a particular thing.
You can also use near immediately in front of an adjective and a noun to say that something almost has a particular quality.
You can use near, near to, or close to immediately in front of a noun to say that someone or something is almost in a particular state.
You can refer to someone you know well as a 'close friend'.
Don't refer to someone as a 'near friend'.
You can refer to someone who is directly related to you as a 'close relative'.
You can also refer to someone as a 'near relative', but this is less common.
Be Careful!
Don't confuse the adjective 'close' with the verb close /kləʊz/. If you close something, you move it so that it fills a hole or gap.
Imperative |
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close |
close |
Noun | 1. | ![]() |
2. | close - the last section of a communication; "in conclusion I want to say..." anticlimax, bathos - a change from a serious subject to a disappointing one section, subdivision - a self-contained part of a larger composition (written or musical); "he always turns first to the business section"; "the history of this work is discussed in the next section" epilog, epilogue - a short passage added at the end of a literary work; "the epilogue told what eventually happened to the main characters" epilog, epilogue - a short speech (often in verse) addressed directly to the audience by an actor at the end of a play peroration - (rhetoric) the concluding section of an oration; "he summarized his main points in his peroration" | |
3. | close - the concluding part of any performance | |
Verb | 1. | close - move so that an opening or passage is obstructed; make shut; "Close the door"; "shut the window" snap - close with a snapping motion; "The lock snapped shut" slat - close the slats of (windows) shutter - close with shutters; "We shuttered the window to keep the house cool" draw - move or pull so as to cover or uncover something; "draw the shades"; "draw the curtains" roll up - close (a car window) by causing it to move up, as with a handle; "she rolled up the window when it started to rain" bung - close with a cork or stopper |
2. | close - become closed; "The windows closed with a loud bang" change state, turn - undergo a transformation or a change of position or action; "We turned from Socialism to Capitalism"; "The people turned against the President when he stole the election" | |
3. | close - cease to operate or cause to cease operating; "The owners decided to move and to close the factory"; "My business closes every night at 8 P.M."; "close up the shop" | |
4. | close - finish or terminate (meetings, speeches, etc.); "The meeting was closed with a charge by the chairman of the board" terminate, end - bring to an end or halt; "She ended their friendship when she found out that he had once been convicted of a crime"; "The attack on Poland terminated the relatively peaceful period after WW I" open - begin or set in action, of meetings, speeches, recitals, etc.; "He opened the meeting with a long speech" | |
5. | close - come to a close; "The concert closed with a nocturne by Chopin" end, cease, terminate, finish, stop - have an end, in a temporal, spatial, or quantitative sense; either spatial or metaphorical; "the bronchioles terminate in a capillary bed"; "Your rights stop where you infringe upon the rights of other"; "My property ends by the bushes"; "The symphony ends in a pianissimo" | |
6. | close - complete a business deal, negotiation, or an agreement; "We closed on the house on Friday"; "They closed the deal on the building" | |
7. | close - be priced or listed when trading stops; "The stock market closed high this Friday"; "My new stocks closed at $59 last night" trade - be traded at a certain price or under certain conditions; "The stock traded around $20 a share" | |
8. | close - engage at close quarters; "close with the enemy" | |
9. | close - cause a window or an application to disappear on a computer desktop open - display the contents of a file or start an application as on a computer | |
10. | close - change one's body stance so that the forward shoulder and foot are closer to the intended point of impact move - move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion; "He moved his hand slightly to the right" | |
11. | close - come together, as if in an embrace; "Her arms closed around her long lost relative" move - move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion; "He moved his hand slightly to the right" | |
12. | close - draw near; "The probe closed with the space station" | |
13. | close - bring together all the elements or parts of; "Management closed ranks" bring together, join - cause to become joined or linked; "join these two parts so that they fit together" | |
14. | close - bar access to; "Due to the accident, the road had to be closed for several hours" | |
15. | close - fill or stop up; "Can you close the cracks with caulking?" fill - plug with a substance; "fill a cavity" seal - close with or as if with a seal; "She sealed the letter with hot wax" plug, stop up, secure - fill or close tightly with or as if with a plug; "plug the hole"; "stop up the leak" coapt, conglutinate - cause to adhere; "The wounds were coapted" | |
16. | close - unite or bring into contact or bring together the edges of; "close the circuit"; "close a wound"; "close a book"; "close up an umbrella" bring together, join - cause to become joined or linked; "join these two parts so that they fit together" | |
17. | close - finish a game in baseball by protecting a lead; "The relief pitcher closed with two runs in the second inning" | |
Adj. | 1. | close - at or within a short distance in space or time or having elements near each other; "close to noon"; "how close are we to town?"; "a close formation of ships" distant - separated in space or coming from or going to a distance; "distant villages"; "the sound of distant traffic"; "a distant sound"; "a distant telephone call" |
2. | close - close in relevance or relationship; "a close family"; "we are all...in close sympathy with..."; "close kin"; "a close resemblance" | |
3. | close - not far distant in time or space or degree or circumstances; "near neighbors"; "in the near future"; "they are near equals"; "his nearest approach to success"; "a very near thing"; "a near hit by the bomb"; "she was near tears"; "she was close to tears"; "had a close call" | |
4. | close - rigorously attentive; strict and thorough; "close supervision"; "paid close attention"; "a close study"; "kept a close watch on expenditures" careful - exercising caution or showing care or attention; "they were careful when crossing the busy street"; "be careful to keep her shoes clean"; "did very careful research"; "careful art restorers"; "careful of the rights of others"; "careful about one's behavior" | |
5. | close - marked by fidelity to an original; "a close translation"; "a faithful copy of the portrait"; "a faithful rendering of the observed facts" accurate - conforming exactly or almost exactly to fact or to a standard or performing with total accuracy; "an accurate reproduction"; "the accounting was accurate"; "accurate measurements"; "an accurate scale" | |
6. | close - (of a contest or contestants) evenly matched; "a close contest"; "a close election"; "a tight game" equal - having the same quantity, value, or measure as another; "on equal terms"; "all men are equal before the law" | |
7. | close - crowded; "close quarters" confined - not free to move about | |
8. | ![]() unventilated - not ventilated; "stuffy unventilated rooms" | |
9. | close - of textiles; "a close weave"; "smooth percale with a very tight weave" fine - of textures that are smooth to the touch or substances consisting of relatively small particles; "wood with a fine grain"; "fine powdery snow"; "fine rain"; "batiste is a cotton fabric with a fine weave"; "covered with a fine film of dust" | |
10. | close - strictly confined or guarded; "kept under close custody" restrained - under restraint | |
11. | close - confined to specific persons; "a close secret" private - confined to particular persons or groups or providing privacy; "a private place"; "private discussions"; "private lessons"; "a private club"; "a private secretary"; "private property"; "the former President is now a private citizen"; "public figures struggle to maintain a private life" | |
12. | close - fitting closely but comfortably; "a close fit" tight - closely constrained or constricted or constricting; "tight skirts"; "he hated tight starched collars"; "fingers closed in a tight fist"; "a tight feeling in his chest" | |
13. | close - used of hair or haircuts; "a close military haircut" short - (primarily spatial sense) having little length or lacking in length; "short skirts"; "short hair"; "the board was a foot short"; "a short toss" | |
14. | close - giving or spending with reluctance; "our cheeseparing administration"; "very close (or near) with his money"; "a penny-pinching miserly old man" stingy, ungenerous - unwilling to spend; "she practices economy without being stingy"; "an ungenerous response to the appeal for funds" | |
15. | close - inclined to secrecy or reticence about divulging information; "although they knew her whereabouts her friends kept close about it" incommunicative, uncommunicative - not inclined to talk or give information or express opinions | |
Adv. | 1. | close - near in time or place or relationship; "as the wedding day drew near"; "stood near the door"; "don't shoot until they come near"; "getting near to the true explanation"; "her mother is always near"; "The end draws nigh"; "the bullet didn't come close"; "don't get too close to the fire" |
2. | close - in an attentive manner; "he remained close on his guard" |