close

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 *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 (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.

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.
   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. (transitive, intransitive, engineering, gas and liquid flow, of valve or damper) To move to a position preventing fluid from flowing.
   5. (transitive, intransitive, electricity, of a switch, fuse or circuit breaker) To move to a position allowing electricity to flow.
   6. 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.
2. 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
   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. (transitive, finance) To cancel or reverse (a trading position).
3. To come or gather around; to enclose; to encompass; to confine.
   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. 1633, George Herbert, The Church
4. (surveying) To have a vector sum of 0; that is, to form a closed polygon.
5. (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.
   Whoever closed last night forgot to turn off the closet light.
6. (Philippines) To turn off; to switch off.
   Please close the lights. ― Please turn off the lights.
   Close the fan please. ― Please switch off the fan.
   Close the TV now. ― Turn off the TV now.

noun

1. An end or conclusion.
   We owe them our thanks for bringing the project to a successful close.
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.
   Regardless of the situation, the minute you feel it's time for the close, try it. 1983, Charles B. Roth, Roy Alexander, Secrets of Closing Sales, page 110
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 checkin staff will no longer accept passengers for a flight.

Etymology 2

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

adj

1. (now rare) Closed, shut.
   As the alchymists were assiduous workmen—as they mixed all the metals, salts, &c... and subjected such mixtures to the action of heat in close vessels, their labours were occasionally repaid by the discovery of new substances... 1830, Thomas Thomson (chemist), The History of Chemistry, volume 1, pages 30–31
2. Narrow; confined.
   a close alley; close quarters
3. At a little distance; near.
   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. 2013-06-01, “End of the peer show”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 71
   Is your house close?
4. Intimate; well-loved.
   He is a close friend.
   1. (law) Of a corporation or other business entity, closely held.
5. Oppressive; without motion or ventilation; causing a feeling of lassitude.
   He sighed drowsily. The atmosphere of the auction room was close; you weren't allowed to smoke; and altogether he was beginning to regret that he had come. 1921, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter X, in Indiscretions of Archie
6. (Ireland, UK, weather) Hot, humid, with no wind.
7. (linguistics, phonetics, of a vowel) Articulated with the tongue body relatively close to the hard palate.
8. Strictly confined; carefully guarded.
   a close prisoner
9. (obsolete) Out of the way of observation; secluded; secret; hidden.
10. Nearly equal; almost evenly balanced.
    a close contest
11. Short.
    to cut grass or hair close
12. (archaic) Dense; solid; compact.
13. (archaic) Concise; to the point.
    close reasoning
    Where the original is close no version can reach it in the same compass. 1690, John Dryden, Translations (Preface)
14. (dated) Difficult to obtain.
    Some of these parties have not paid their last payment, because money was close last fall. 1886, “Leases of Lands in the Indian Territory”, in United States Congressional Serial Set, volume 2362, page 184
    We are told out West that the reason money is so close now is because so large an amount has been invested in real estate. I cannot understand why that would make any difference if that money has been sent from one section of the country into another for the purpose of buying real estate. Why should it make any difference as to money being close? We are told in the East large amounts have been invested in the large manufacturing plants, such as the steel plants, etc. but if the money has been invested there it has simply changed hands, and why should that make any difference? 1903, Gunton's Magazine of American Economics and Political Science, page 249
    But there is reason underlying this confusion: time as well as money is close these days and a small wardrobe of hats can be very boring. 1965, Country Life - Volume 137, page 326
    Money is close.
15. (dated) Parsimonious; stingy.
    … he was a crusty old fellow, as close as a vice. 1837, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Mr. Higginbotham's Catastrophe”, in Twice-Told Tales, volume I
16. Adhering strictly to a standard or original; exact.
    a close translation; a close copy
17. Accurate; careful; precise; also, attentive; undeviating; strict.
    The patient was kept under close observation.
18. Marked, evident.
19. Almost, but not quite (getting to an answer or goal); near
    No, but you were close.
    We were so close to winning!
20. (heraldry, of a bird) With its wings at its side, closed, held near to its body (typically also statant); (of wings) in this posture.
    Crest, a cockatrice, wings close, vert, combed and wattled gu. 1780, Joseph Edmondson, A Complete Body of Heraldry
    Sable, an eagle close or - ROPER, Derby. / Sable, a chevron ermine between three eagles close argent - GAMES, Leicester, granted 1614. / Sable a chevron between three eagles close argent - JERVOISE. 1894, Henry Gough, James Parker, A Glossary of Terms Used in Heraldry, page 215
    Arms : Azure, a chevron ermine between three cross - crosslets fitchy argent. Crest : An eagle close argent, ducally gorged. 1902, Lincoln's Inn (London, England), The Records of the Honorable Society of Lincoln's Inn, page 458

noun

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.
   The woman nodded at a nearby flight of steps. 'This is my close. We can talk in here. Come on.'. 2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 279
5. A cathedral close.
6. (law) The interest which one may have in a piece of ground, even though it is not enclosed