Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - close

I. [c red]SHUTTING OR COMPLETING (closes, closing, closed) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. Please look at category 12 to see if the expression you are looking for is shown under another headword. 1. When you close something such as a door or lid or when it closes, it moves so that a hole, gap, or opening is covered. If you are cold, close the window... Zacharias heard the door close... Keep the curtains closed. = shut ? open VERB: V n, V, V-ed 2. When you close something such as an open book or umbrella, you move the different parts of it together. Slowly he closed the book. VERB: V n 3. If you close something such as a computer file or window, you give the computer an instruction to remove it from the screen. (COMPUTING) To close your document, press CTRL+W on your keyboard. VERB: V n 4. When you close your eyes or your eyes close, your eyelids move downwards, so that you can no longer see. Bess closed her eyes and fell asleep... When we sneeze, our eyes close. VERB: V n, V 5. When a place closes or is closed, work or activity stops there for a short period. Shops close only on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day... It was Saturday; they could close the office early... Government troops closed the airport... The restaurant was closed for the night. = shut ? open VERB: V, V n, V n, V-ed 6. If a place such as a factory, shop, or school closes, or if it is closed, all work or activity stops there permanently. Many enterprises will be forced to close... If they do close the local college I’ll have to go to Worcester. VERB: V, V n • Close down means the same as close. Minford closed down the business and went into politics... Many of the smaller stores have closed down. PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), V P, also V n P • closing ...since the closing of the steelworks in nearby Duquesne in 1984. = closure N-SING 7. To close a road or border means to block it in order to prevent people from using it. They were cut off from the West in 1948 when their government closed that border crossing. VERB: V n 8. To close a conversation, event, or matter means to bring it to an end or to complete it. Judge Isabel Oliva said last night: ‘I have closed the case. There was no foul play.’... The Prime Minister is said to now consider the matter closed. ...the closing ceremony of the National Political Conference. VERB: V n, V-ed, V-ing 9. If you close a bank account, you take all your money out of it and inform the bank that you will no longer be using the account. He had closed his account with the bank five years earlier. ? open VERB: V n 10. On the stock market or the currency markets, if a share price or a currency closes at a particular value, that is its value at the end of the day’s business. (BUSINESS) Dawson shares closed at 219p, up 5p... The US dollar closed higher in Tokyo today. ? open VERB: V prep/adv, V adj-compar 11. The close of a period of time or an activity is the end of it. To bring or draw something to a close means to end it. By the close of business last night, most of the big firms were hailing yesterday’s actions as a success... Brian’s retirement brings to a close a glorious chapter in British football history... = end N-SING: oft the N of n, to a N 12. to close the door on something: see door to close your eyes to something: see eye to close ranks: see rank see also closed, closing II. [c red]NEARNESS; ADJECTIVE USES (closer, closest) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. Please look at category 18 to see if the expression you are looking for is shown under another headword. 1. If one thing or person is close to another, there is only a very small distance between them. Her lips were close to his head and her breath tickled his ear... The man moved closer, lowering his voice... The tables were pushed close together so diners could talk across the aisles. = near ADJ: v-link ADJ, ADJ after v, oft ADJ prep/adv • closely Wherever they went they were closely followed by security men. ADV: ADV after v, ADV -ed 2. You say that people are close to each other when they like each other very much and know each other very well. She and Linda became very close... As a little girl, Karan was closest to her sister Gail... I shared a house with a close friend from school... ADJ: oft ADJ to n • closeness I asked whether her closeness to her mother ever posed any problems. N-UNCOUNT 3. Your close relatives are the members of your family who are most directly related to you, for example your parents and your brothers or sisters. ...large changes such as the birth of a child or death of a close relative. ? distant ADJ: ADJ n 4. A close ally or partner of someone knows them well and is very involved in their work. He was once regarded as one of Mr Brown’s closest political advisers... A senior source close to Mr Blair told us: ‘Our position has not changed.’ ADJ: usu ADJ n, also v-link ADJ to n 5. Close contact or co-operation involves seeing or communicating with someone often. Both nations are seeking closer links with the West... He lived alone, keeping close contact with his three grown-up sons. ADJ: ADJ n • closely We work closely with the careers officers in schools. ADV: ADV after v 6. If there is a close connection or resemblance between two things, they are strongly connected or are very similar. There is a close connection between pain and tension... Clare’s close resemblance to his elder sister invoked a deep dislike in him. = strong ADJ: usu ADJ n • closely ...a pattern closely resembling a cross. ...fruits closely related to the orange. ADV: ADV before v, ADV -ed 7. Close inspection or observation of something is careful and thorough. He discovered, on closer inspection, that the rocks contained gold... Let’s have a closer look. = thorough ADJ • closely If you look closely at many of the problems in society, you’ll see evidence of racial discrimination. ADV: ADV with v 8. A close competition or election is won or seems likely to be won by only a small amount. It is still a close contest between two leading opposition parties... It’s going to be very close. ADJ • closely This will be a closely fought race. ADV: usu ADV -ed 9. If you are close to something or if it is close, it is likely to happen or come soon. If you are close to doing something, you are likely to do it soon. She sounded close to tears... A senior White House official said the agreement is close... He’s close to signing a contract. = near ADJ: v-link ADJ, usu ADJ to n/-ing 10. If something is close or comes close to something else, it almost is, does, or experiences that thing. An airliner came close to disaster while approaching Heathrow Airport... = near ADJ: v-link ADJ, usu ADJ to n 11. If the atmosphere somewhere is close, it is unpleasantly warm with not enough air. ADJ 12. Something that is close by or close at hand is near to you. Did a new hairdressing shop open close by?... His wife remains behind in Germany, but Jason, his 18-year-old son, is closer at hand. = nearby PHRASE: usu v-link PHR, PHR after v 13. If you describe an event as a close shave, a close thing, or a close call, you mean that an accident or a disaster very nearly happened. You had a close shave, but you knew when you accepted this job that there would be risks. PHRASE 14. If you keep a close eye on someone or something or keep a close watch on them, you observe them carefully to make sure they are progressing as you want them to. The President’s foreign policy team are keeping a close eye on events. PHRASE: V inflects, usu PHR on n 15. Close to a particular amount or distance means slightly less than that amount or distance. In British English, you can also say close on a particular amount or distance. Sisulu spent close to 30 years in prison... Catering may now account for close on a quarter of pub turnover. = almost, nearly PREP-PHRASE: PREP amount 16. If you look at something close up or close to, you look at it when you are very near to it. They always look smaller close up. PHRASE: usu PHR after v, v-link PHR see also close-up 17. If something such as a competition or an election is too close to call, it is not possible to predict who will win because it seems likely to be won by only a very small margin. (JOURNALISM) In the Senate, the count is too close to call at this point. PHRASE: PHR with cl 18. at close quarters: see quarter at close range: see range III. [c red]NEARNESS; VERB USES (closes, closing, closed) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. If you are closing on someone or something that you are following, you are getting nearer and nearer to them. I was within 15 seconds of the guy in second place and closing on him. VERB: V on n CLOSE Close is used in the names of some streets in Britain. ...116 Dendridge Close. N-IN-NAMES: n N