closer

Pluralclosers

1. 1
   adjective

   Comparative form of close.

   The deadline crept closer with each passing day.

   Their houses sat closer together than I had remembered.

   Note

   The comparative carries every shade of close, not only distance. A closer examination is a more exact one, a closer friend a more intimate one, and a closer contest a more evenly balanced one. Doubled, closer and closer marks steady approach, as when the flames of war came closer and closer to a town. Its superlative is closest.

2. 2
   adjective

   Within a shorter distance; nearer than another point of reference.

   We booked a hotel closer to the conference center.

   The closer seats cost more because of the view.

   Similarnearer

   Oppositefarther, further

3. 3
   nouncountable

   A person or thing that closes something, such as a door or an opening.

   A hydraulic closer keeps the heavy door from slamming.

   As the last closer of the evening, she checked every window before leaving.

   Note

   A different word from the comparative adjective. It comes from Middle English closere, built from the verb close plus -er, so it names whoever or whatever does the closing. Hardware takes it as readily as people do, as in a hydraulic door closer. In business it names the person trusted to seal a deal. Unlike the adjective, it has a plural: closers.

4. 4
   nouncountable

   A person or thing that concludes or finishes something.

   The final speaker served as the closer, summing up the day's themes.

   Fireworks made a spectacular closer to the festival.

   Similarfinale, finisher

   Oppositeopener

   Note

   Here closing means finishing rather than shutting. A DJ's closer is the last track of the night, picked to end things well. The same idea of a strong finish was narrowed by sport into the ninth-inning pitcher and the late-running horse.

5. 5
   nouncountable

   In baseball, a relief pitcher who specializes in getting the final three outs of a game.

   The team's closer entered in the ninth with the bases empty.

   A dominant closer can turn a slim lead into a reliable win.

   Oppositestarter

   Note

   A role rather than a place in the order. The closer is held back for the final inning to protect a narrow lead, and is usually credited with the save when it holds. The usual phrasing is that a team brings in its closer for the ninth. The word is often possessive: the team's closer, their closer.

6. 6
   nouncountable

   In sales, the moment at the end of a pitch when the customer is asked to make the purchase.

   The rep fumbled the closer and lost the sale.

   A well-rehearsed closer can turn hesitation into a signature.

   Similarclose

   Oppositeopener

   Note

   Sales jargon for the climax of a pitch, the ask itself. It means exactly the same as the noun close. Context separates it from the salesperson who delivers it. To fumble the closer is to botch the ask, while to be the closer is to be the one who makes it.

7. 7
   nouncountable

   In horse racing, a horse that runs its strongest toward the end of a race.

   Bettors love a closer that comes from behind in the last furlong.

   The closer trailed early but powered ahead near the wire.

   Oppositefront-runner

   Note

   Racing talk sorts horses by where they run their race, and this one runs it late. A closer sits off the early pace, then accelerates through the final furlongs to overtake the front-runners. A closer that trails early has not failed; it is running to plan.

8. 8
   nouncountable

   The final, smaller stone in a horizontal course of masonry, or a cut piece of brick used to finish off the course.

   The bricklayer split a brick to make a closer for the last gap in the course.

   A small closer completed the top row of the stone wall.

   Note

   When the last stone of a course is smaller than its neighbors, or a brick is cut down to finish the row, that piece is a closer. Notes on Building and Road-making (1852) describes closers set into a wall to obtain its longitudinal bond. The piece is chosen to keep the pattern of the brickwork true, not merely to fill a space.

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