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Less common meanings

16. 16
    lock upverbintransitive

    To carry out the end-of-day tasks, like locking up, that ready a shop to shut for the night.

    New employees learn how to close before they handle the morning shift.

    The manager always closes alone on weekends.

    UsageThe worker is the subject: who's closing tonight? Its partner is open: she opens on Mondays.

    Oppositeopen

    Note

    "Whoever closed last night" means whoever did the locking up and putting away. New staff are taught to close as a task in its own right, separate from the shop simply shutting its doors. Source

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • New retail staff receive training in closing procedures as a distinct set of duties. shopify.com
17. 17
    adverb

    Carefully and in detail, paying attention to every part.

    Watch close as the magician slips the card into his sleeve.

    If you watch close, you can see the magician slip the card into his sleeve.

    UsageMostly after watch, look or listen: listen close. Closely is more usual in formal writing.

    Similarcarefully, attentively

    Oppositecarelessly

    Note

    The same bare adverb as the spatial "close together" here means with care: look close, watch close, read close.

18. 18
    packed tightadjective

    Tight, with little space separating the parts or elements.

    The troops advanced in close ranks across the open field.

    A close weave makes the cloth almost waterproof.

    Similartight, dense, compact, packed

    Oppositeloose, open, sparse

19. 19
    verbintransitive

    Of a share, currency, commodity, or market index, to end a trading day at a given price or level.

    The Dow closed down 300 points after the central bank's announcement.

    Traders expect the euro to close near its lowest level of the week.

    UsageWith up, down or at: the Dow closed down 300 points; the euro closed at a new low.

    Similarfinish, end

    Oppositeopen

20. 20
    nouncountable

    The price of a share or commodity, or a market index's level, when a trading session ends.

    Shares opened 5 percent above Tuesday's close after the earnings report.

    The index ended the week at 4,512, its highest weekly close in a year.

    UsageIt is said to rhyme with nose, not like close meaning near. It often follows a day: yesterday's close, Friday's close.

    Oppositeopen

    Note

    It is the counterpart of the open, the first price of a session, and traders measure moves from one to the other: shares jumped at the open, or slipped into the close. Prices move throughout the session; the closing price is the figure that goes into the record. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • The opening price is the first trading price of the session. nasdaqtrader.com
    • Prices fluctuate during a trading session. fca.org.uk
    • The closing price is retained in historical market records. en.wikipedia.org
21. 21
    withdraw emotionallyverbfigurativelytransitive or intransitive

    To make or become unwilling to accept new ideas, feelings, or people.

    Repeated betrayals can close a person's heart to genuine kindness.

    She tends to close off whenever the conversation turns personal.

    UsageOften close off, or close your mind to something: she closed her mind to the idea.

    Similarshut, harden

    Oppositeopen

22. 22
    stuffyadjective

    Stuffy and oppressive, with no moving air, leaving one feeling drained.

    The air grew close and heavy as the storm built over the valley.

    By midday the crowded tent had become unbearably close.

    UsageCommon with air or atmosphere, or about a room: it's close in here. It rhymes with dose.

    Similarstuffy, muggy, airless, oppressive, humid

    Oppositefresh, airy, breezy

    Note

    Rooms are where this kind of closeness gathers. Francis Bacon warns that low-roofed rooms make "the air close." In Wodehouse's Indiscretions of Archie (1921), Reggie van Tuyl turns drowsy in an auction room whose atmosphere is close and where smoking is banned. In British and Irish use it also describes hot, humid, windless weather outdoors. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Indiscretions of Archie is by Wodehouse and was first published in 1921. en.wikipedia.org
    • The auction room has a close atmosphere and smoking is prohibited. gutenberg.org
23. 23
    SayKLOHSUS/kloʊs/UK/kləʊs/

    dead-end streetnounBritishcountable

    A short residential street that ends in a dead end.

    Their new house sits at the end of a leafy close in the suburbs.

    Every house in the close opens onto a shared green.

    Similarcul-de-sac

    Note

    A British usage above all, it comes from French clos, an enclosed space, here a street shut in at one end. A close is a dead-end street, so a house in the close sits on a road that leads nowhere else. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • The noun close comes from French clos. en.wiktionary.org
    • The source word clos denotes an enclosed space. en.wiktionary.org
    • In the street sense, a close ends in a dead end. en.wiktionary.org
24. 24
    SayKLOHSUS/kloʊs/UK/kləʊs/

    nouncountable

    The enclosed grounds around a cathedral, often lined with the houses of its clergy.

    The dean's house stands on the north side of the close, facing the cathedral's west front.

    Tourists wander the close by day, but at night its gates shut and the canons have it to themselves.

    Similarprecinct

    Note

    Here the enclosure is a cathedral's own precinct, home to the clergy who serve it: Macaulay's History of England describes closes "surrounded by the venerable abodes of deans and canons". Away from a cathedral, the close more likely means a dead-end street, so writers usually say cathedral close the first time. Source

    Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • A cathedral close is an enclosed precinct surrounding a cathedral. en.wiktionary.org
    • Cathedral closes house clergy associated with the cathedral. en.wikipedia.org
    • Thomas Babington Macaulay wrote History of England. gutenberg.org
    • Macaulay's History of England describes closes using the quoted wording. gutenberg.org
25. 25
    SayKLOHSUS/kloʊs/UK/kləʊs/

    noundialectalScotlandcountable

    In Scotland, a narrow alley or passage between buildings, or the shared entrance and staircase of a tenement.

    The kids played in the close until their mums shouted them up for their tea.

    Everyone in the close turned out to help when the old man fell on the stairs.

    Similarstairwell

    Note

    In Liam McIlvanney's The Heretic (2022) a woman points to a flight of steps and says "This is my close. We can talk in here", treating the shared stair as a private place to talk. Source

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Liam McIlvanney wrote The Heretic. netgalley.co.uk
    • A woman gestures toward steps and says the quoted words, suggesting somewhere private to talk. en.wiktionary.org
26. 26
    adjective

    Short, especially of hair or grass that has been trimmed down near the skin or the ground.

    The sheep had grazed the hillside down to a close, springy turf.

    Every recruit in the unit wore his hair in a close crop that showed the scalp.

    UsageOften in phrases like a close crop or a close shave (which also means a narrow escape).

    Similarshort, cropped

    Oppositelong

    Note

    It is at home after a verb of cutting, naming the result: grass or hair is cut close, a beard is trimmed close. In that position it sits on the border with the adverb of little distance, since what is cut close is cut near the ground or the skin, and the shortness is simply how near the blade went.

27. 27
    noun

    The point in time when check-in staff stop accepting passengers for a flight.
28. 28
    adjective

    Pronounced with the tongue raised high toward the roof of the mouth, leaving only a narrow gap for the air.
29. 29
    verb

    To fill up and grow thicker, with things packed nearer together.
30. 30
    verb

    Of a switch or contact, to shift into the position that completes a circuit so current can pass.
31. 31
    verb

    To come to grips with an opponent and fight at very short range.
32. 32
    verb

    To turn the face of a golf club, bat or racket so it points down or, for a right-handed player, to the left.
33. 33
    verb

    To be the last act to appear at a show, concert or festival.
34. 34
    verb

    Of a relief pitcher, to come in and get the last outs of a game, normally three.
35. 35
    verb

    To end an open investment by making the opposite trade, so it no longer gains or loses value.
36. 36
    verbdialectalCyprusPhilippinesQuebec

    To stop a light or device from running, as in 'close the lights'.
37. 37
    verb

    To surround something on all sides, as water or darkness does.
38. 38
    verb

    Of a set of measured lines or vectors, to add up to zero, so they meet to make a complete shape.
39. 39
    noun

    The way something shuts, or the place where two parts meet and join.
40. 40
    noun

    The final stage of a sales conversation, when the seller asks the customer to commit to buying.
41. 41
    noun

    A hold in which wrestlers grip each other.
42. 42
    noun

    The ending of a musical phrase or passage, where it comes to rest.
43. 43
    noun

    Two vertical lines on a musical staff that show where a piece finishes.
44. 44
    adjective

    Cramped and narrow, with little room to move.
45. 45
    adjective

    Kept under tight guard or confinement, as a prisoner is.
46. 46
    adjective

    Offered or open to only a few, with access tightly limited.
47. 47
    adjective

    Of a company, owned by a small number of shareholders and not traded on the open market.
48. 48
    adjectivearchaic

    Not open, with any opening covered or sealed.

    There is nothinge so close, that shall not be openned, and nothinge so hyd that shall not be knowen.

    1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt (Tyndale Bible)
49. 49
    adjective

    Of a bird shown on a coat of arms, having its wings folded against its body.
50. 50
    adjectivedated

    Hard to come by, as money is when loans are scarce.

    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
51. 51
    adjectivedated

    Unwilling to spend or give away money.

    Though a hard-grained man, close, dry, and silent, he can enjoy old wine with the best. He has a priceless bin of port in some artful cellar under the Fields, which is one of his many secrets.

    1852, Charles Dickens, Bleak House
52. 52
    adjectiveobsolete

    Kept out of sight or away from others, hidden or private.

    He yet kept himself close because of Saul.

    1611, The Holy Bible, King James Version
53. 53
    adjectivearchaic

    Brief and direct, with no wasted words.

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

    1690, John Dryden, Translations (Preface)
54. 54
    nounarchaicYorkshire

    Land with a wall, hedge or fence around it, especially the grounds of a church or other place of worship.
55. 55
    noundialectalScotland

    A very narrow passage running between buildings, often with an upper story built over it.
56. 56
    noun

    A person's legal right in a piece of land, whether or not it is fenced.