| 释义 |
▪ I. close, a. and adv.|kləʊs|
Forms: 4–5 cloos, 4–6 clos, 5 cloce, (5–6 closse, 8 closs), 4– close. Also north. 5 cloyse, cloese, 5–6 clois(e.
[a. F. clos:—L. claus-um closed, shut, pa. pple. of claud-ĕre to shut. The s has preserved its sound through being truly final, as in base, ace, gross, etc., the final e being only a graphic expedient to mark the long vowel, as was the Sc. oy, oi.]
A. adj.
I. Of closed or shut up state or condition, and its results (as in the weather, 6), with the secondary associations of concealment, exclusiveness, narrowness, etc.
1. a. gen. Closed, shut; having no part left open. Often as extension of predicate, as in to shut close. (Cf. B. 1.)
c1325E.E. Allit. P. A. 183 Wyth yȝen open & mouth ful clos. [1331Literæ Cantuar. 24 Nov. (Rolls) I. 410 Vous mandoms une lettre close et patente.] c1400Destr. Troy 11152 Þe troyens..Þe toun ȝatys Keppit full cloyse. 1502Privy Purse Exp. Eliz. York (1830) 46 The close carre. 1547Boorde Brev. Health lxiv. 28 Under a vaute..or any other close house. 1626Bacon Sylva (1677) §351 Stop the hole close. 1688R. Holme Armory iii. 144/2 Zenobia..compared Logick to a close hand, and Oratory to the same hand opened. 1721New Help to Discourse 135 A close mouth catcheth no flies. 1794J. Hutton Philos. Light, etc. 247 Including..the inflammable materials in closs vessels. 1867Trollope Chron. Barset I. viii. 63 I've brought a close carriage for him. 1873Act 36 & 37 Vict. c. 88 Sched. 1, Hatches with open gratings, instead of the close hatches..usual in merchant vessels.
b. Her. of wings. close crown: = F. couronne close: see crown n.
1513Douglas æneis i. ix. 135 Scho..woir about hir hals, Of gold also the clos or dowble croun. 1610J. Guillim Heraldry iii. xix. (1660) 213 In the Blazoning of Fowles..if their Wings be not displaied, they shall be said to be borne close. 1766–87Porny Heraldry Gloss.
c. transf. of weather, season (see quots.).
1805Forsyth Beauties Scotl. I. 421 Close weather; that is, when the snow lies so deep as to render it necessary to hand-feed their flocks of sheep. 1820Scoresby Acc. Arct. Reg. 266 When the ice..occurs so strong..as to prevent..the advance northward beyond the latitude of 75° or 76°, it is said to be a close season.
d. Of vowel-sounds: Pronounced with partial closing of the lips, or with contraction of the oral cavity. Opposed to open. (In F. fermé.)
1760Baretti Dict. Eng. & Ital. II. Introd. p. ii, E and O have in some Italian words, two distinct sounds each; one called..aperto, open; the other chiuso, close. 1876T. Le M. Douse Grimm's L. App. 179 It raises a close sound in alms, and perhaps in behalf.
2. a. Enclosed or shut in, esp. with walls or barriers; shut up, confined, narrow. Const. in, from.
1489Caxton Faytes of A. iv. xi. 258 Two champyons befyght eche other within a clos felde [vii. 245 has closed felde]. 1529More Comf. agst. Trib. iii. Wks. 1247/1 Saynt Brigittes order..&..al close religious houses. 1591Shakes. Two Gent. iii. i. 235 To close prison he commanded her. 1611Bible 2 Sam. xxii. 46 They shall bee afraid out of their close places. 1632Lithgow Trav. (1682) A iv, In their own close ground. 1716Lady M. W. Montague Lett. I. vii. 21 The streets are very close and..narrow. 1793Smeaton Edystone L. §206 If kept close from the Air, it would preserve its virtue. 1824Scott Redgauntlet let. vii, The space contained close alleys and open walks. 1845A. M. Hall Whiteboy xii. 101 The landscape was closer than Irish landscapes usually are.
b. transf. of a siege.
1677Hale Prim. Orig. Man. 227 Though it be otherwise in a close Siege. 1796Nelson 3 July in Nicolas Disp. (1845) II. 201 A very close blockade of Leghorn.
c. Of a game of chess: see quot. 1818; now, more usually, one characterized by lack of development either by gambits or by opening up the files.
1750Chess Made Easy i. 1 Close Games, in Opposition to Gambit Games. 1818W. S. Kenny Pract. Chess Exercises 1 The close game is, when he that plays first gives neither a pawn nor a piece at the beginning of a game. 1920Brit. Chess Mag. XXXIX. 261 He never felt happy in ‘close games’.
3. Shut up in prison or the like, strictly confined; also applied to confinement of such a kind.
1393Gower Conf. III. 323 Clos in a chambre by her self. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 223 Kept close in a Castell. 1597Daniel Civ. Wares iii. xx, That Richard should remain for evermore, close-prisoner. 1677C. Hatton in Hatton Corr. (1878) 146 They were under soe close a restraint. 1691Wood Ath. Oxon. II. 707 Was kept up close in a house of Lunaticks at Hogsden alias Hoxton. 1711Budgell Spect. No. 116 ⁋1 Close Confinement in the Bastile seven Years. a1714Burnet Own Time (1766) II. 3 They were made close prisoners. 1811Wellington in Gurw. Disp. VIII. 442 Captain ― is in close arrest.
4. a. Shut up from observation; concealed, occult, hidden, secret; secluded.
1393Gower Conf. I. 182 Her close envie tho she spradde. 1526Tindale Matt. x. 26 There is no thinge so close, that shall not be openned. 1554Bradford in Strype Eccl. Mem. III. App. xxix. 83 My hid and close sins. 1607Dekker Wh. Babylon Wks. 1873 II. 208 When close plots faile, vse open violence. 1614Bp. Hall Recoll. Treat. 1029 Hee could finde out their closest sinnes. 1725Pope Odyss. xiii. 421 The closest caverns of the grot she sought. 1820Keats St. Agnes xix, To lead him in close secrecy.
b. Private, secluded, snug. arch. or Obs.
1571in Strype Eccl. Mem. III. App. lix. 199 He was lodged in the closyst chambre in the howse. 1581W. Stafford Exam. Compl. i. (1876) 14 We..had but skant sit downe in a close Parloure. 1628Britain's Ida ii. in Spenser's Wks. (1862) 498/2 From a close bower this dainty musique flow'd. 1750Johnson Rambler No. 80 ⁋6 We congratulate each other..upon a close room, an easy chair.
c. in to keep close, lie close, etc. (Cf. B 1.)
c1400Destr. Troy 13846 Thus he keppit hym full cloise. 1468W. Worcester in Paston Lett. No. 582 II. 314, I pray you kepe thys letter close to your sylf. 1548Udall, etc. tr. Erasm. Par. Matt. 125 a, Kepe close (quoth they) the thynges that ye haue sene. 1576Gascoigne Compl. Philomene (Arb.) 103 When Progne red the writ..She kept it close. 1611Bible Pref. 3 How shall they vnderstand that which is kept close in an vnknowen tongue? 1719De Foe Crusoe (1840) II. iii. 61 To persuade our people to lie close, and not be seen. 1846Prescott Ferd. & Is. I. x. 428 Lying close during the day.
†5. Enclosed with clouds or darkness. Obs.
1532St. Papers Hen. VIII, IV. 625 The Scottes..did come secret upon the close nyght. 1586J. Hooker Girald. Irel. in Holinshed II. 167/2 A verie darke and close night.
6. Of the atmosphere or weather: Like that of a closed up room; confined, stifling, without free circulation; the opposite of fresh.
[1533J. Heywood Play of Weather (Percy Soc. 20) xvii, Wynde rayne nor froste nor sonshyne wold she haue But fayre close wether, her beauty to saue.] 1591Percivall Sp. Dict., Bochorno, a close hot weather. 1599T. M[oufet] Silkwormes 48 Keepe them not in roomes too hot and close. 1748Anson's Voy. ii. vii. 213 We had now for several days together close and sultry weather. 1835Marryat Jac. Faithf. i, The little cabin being so unpleasantly close. 1855Bain Senses & Int. ii. ii. §8 (1864) 170 The opposite of freshness is shown in the close or suffocating odours.
7. Practising secrecy; reserved, reticent, uncommunicative; not open.
c1400Destr. Troy 3939 A clene man of counsell, with a cloise hert. 1568Grafton Chron. Edw. V, II. 758 He was close and secret, and a depe dissimuler. 1595Shakes. John iv. ii. 72 That close aspect of his. 1596― 1 Hen. IV, ii. iii. 113 For secrecie, No Lady closer. 1727Swift Imit. Horace, They stand amaz'd, and think me grown The closest mortal ever known. 1852Dickens Bleak Ho. xi, He was too close to name his circumstances to me.
8. Close-fisted, stingy, niggardly, penurious.
1654Whitlock Zootomia 496 He that is too close a hold⁓fast of his own. 1691–8Norris Pract. Disc. IV. 339 How Close and Stingy do they grow as the World thrives upon them. 1721Swift Wonder of Wonders, He hath the reputation to be a close, griping fellow. 1831Lytton Godolph. 25 They called him close, yet he was generous to others.
9. Not open to public access or competition; confined or restricted to a privileged few. close borough: see borough 3 c.
1812Parl. Debate 8 May in Exam. 11 May 298/1 Mr. D. Giddy..maintained that close boroughs were absolutely necessary. 1832Blackw. Mag. Apr. 595 Now Satan set up for a parliament-man..But the boroughs were close, and he could not get in. 1844Ld. Brougham Brit. Const. viii. (1862) 102 The possession..of close or nomination boroughs by the government, or by the peers. 1878R. B. Smith Carthage 22 These..filled up the vacancies..from among themselves, like the members of a close college. 1879Froude Cæsar viii. 79 The College of Priests had been..a close corporation, which filled up its own numbers.
10. Of a season; Closed for the purposes of sport; during which the killing of certain kinds of game or fish is illegal.
1814Scott Wav. xviii, Though close-time was then unknown, the broods of grouse were yet too young for the sportsman. 1869Daily News 2 July, A ‘close’ period plainly ought to be observed for them. 1880Ibid. 9 Dec., The..result of spearing salmon in close time.
†11.
a. Strict, rigorous, severe. Obs.
1464Paston Lett. No. 496 II. 171 Your holy brytheryn that ben of that devowt and clos conversation. 1529More Comf. agst. Trib. ii. Wks. 1170/1 Very vertuous was this Ladye, and of a veri vertuous place a close religion. 1770Wesley Wks. (1872) III. 389 She had close trials from her poor, apostate husband.
b. In close mourners, there was prob. originally a reference to the seclusion of the mourners; close mourning came at length to be = deep mourning.
1654Ld. Orrery Parthenissa (1676) 606 That all..should, for the revolution of twelve Moons, wear close Mourning. 1670Brooks Wks. (1867) VI. 132 They muffled up their heads and faces as a token of great grief and sorrow, as close mourners do with us. 1708Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) VI. 368 On Sunday the court goes into close mourning. 1708Swift Bickerstaff Detected, Two apartments hung in close mourning..and only a strip of bays round the other rooms.
12. Of a ram: see quot.
1641Best Farm. Bks. (1856) 1 Close tuppes are such as have both the stones in the ridge of the backe, and are therefore very difficult to geld. 1796Marshall E. Yorksh. Words (E.D.S., B. 22) Close teeap, a male sheep, with both testicles within the barrel.
II. Of proximity in space, time, form, or state. The primary notion is that of having intervening space or spaces closed up, whereby the parts are in immediate contact with, or near to each other.
13. Having the atoms or component parts very near together:
a. Of substances: Dense or compact in texture or consistency; ‘without interstices or vacuities’ (J.).
a1500Orol. Sap. in Anglia X. 371 Not a foule creatoure but þe maker of alle thinge, not a close filthe but þe wisdome of god becomen man. 1626Bacon Sylva (1677) §212 If you speak on the further side of a Close Wall..you shall not be heard. a1672Wilkins (J.), Oil..of so close and tenacious a substance, that it may slowly evaporate. 1690Locke Hum. Und. ii. iv. §4 The water made itself way through the pores of that very close metal. 1883J. Millington Are we to read backwards? 76 The paper..should have a close, fine texture.
b. Of aggregates of things: Dense or compact in arrangement, e.g. of thickets, etc., close-planted; of writing, compressed, cramped.
1654Whitlock Zootomia A viij, That my writing had not been so close. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 372 In close Plantations. 1747Berkeley Let. 10 Feb. Wks. 1871 IV. 313 A copy of the Will, written in a close hand. 1824Scott Redgauntlet let. vii, Thou hast in these close pages [of a letter] the fruits of my tediousness. 1827H. Steuart Planter's G. (1828) 347 In respect to Close-woods.
c. fig. Of literary style: Condensed, pithy (obs.). Of reasoning: Opposed to loose or discursive.
1670Baxter Cure Ch. Div. Pref., I preacht..in a larger and a closer manner on this subject. 1704Hearne Duct. Hist. (1714) I. 129 Thucydides is always Close and Short. 1710Steele Tatler No. 212 ⁋3 The greatest Beauty of Speech to be close and intelligible. 1735Pope Donne's Sat. iv. 72 ‘But, sir, of writers?’—‘Swift, for closer style, But Hoadley for a period of a mile’. 1756–82J. Warton Ess. Pope II. 58 The Essay on Man is as close a piece of argument..as perhaps can be found in verse. 1809–10Coleridge Friend (1865) 30 A close reasoner. 1825Hone Every-Day Bk. I. 1656 My endeavours..may occasion ‘close’ readers to object, that it was..discursive. 1842H. Rogers Introd. Burke's Wks. 74 His powers of abstract reasoning or of close analysis.
14. a. Of two or more parts or things in local relation: ‘Joined without any intervening distance or space’ (J.); in immediate proximity, very near.
App. first used as complement of predicate, as in to cling close, keep close, lie close, sit close, stand close, stick close; hence passing into an adv.; see B 1 a. Occas. more adjectival, as in quot. 1840.
1489[see B 1 a]. 1840Lardner Geom. 209 When the parallels..are very close together.
b. Hence, as attribute of nouns of condition, e.g. close order, close rank, or of action, as close fight, close combat, with various elliptical extensions, as close distance, etc.
1625Markham Souldier's Accid. 18 The second Distance..is called Close, and is a foote and a halfe distance from man to man. a1649Drummond of Hawthornden Jas. V, Wks. 105 They dared both fight in close arms. 1727A. Hamilton New Acc. E. Ind. I. xix. 220 Closs Fighting with Sword and Target. 1796–7Instr. & Reg. Cavalry (1813) 3 Close files is the distance..when each man's boot-top touches, but without pressing. Ibid. 107 The formation from close column into line. Ibid. Plate 1, A Regiment formed at Close Order. 1808Scott Marm. i. v, But in close fight a champion grim. 1852Grote Greece ii. lxxx. X. 474 Eminent for close-rank fighting. 1879Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 216 Close formation..in which the men stand in each rank as close together shoulder to shoulder as the free use of their weapons will allow.
15. a. Of proximity or approximation to, or contact with (anything): As near as possible, very near, immediate.
Orig. in predicate, and passing into the adv.: see B 1 b.
b. Hence, with substantives of action or position. close shave (orig. U.S.): a narrow escape, a near thing (lit. and fig.).
1681–6J. Scott Chr. Life (1747) III. 7 Such near and close Access to his most holy Majesty. 1792S. Rogers Pleas. Mem. ii. 200 With every claim of close affinity. 1834C. A. Davis Lett. J. Downing 13, I did not so much as get my feet wet when the bridge fell, though it was a close shave. 1856[see shave n.2 5 a]. 1872Morley Voltaire (1886) 17 To come into the closest contact with the practical affairs of the world. 1886F. H. H. Guillemard Cruise Marchesa II. 270 Batanta is in close proximity to Salwatti. 1888Adm. Colomb in Times 6 Jan. 13/3 Close shaving as the cause of collisions at sea. Ibid. There are no collisions where each ship has tried to give the other a ‘close shave’. 1940‘Gun Buster’ Return via Dunkirk ii. i. 90 That was a close shave for me. 1952Manch. Guardian Weekly 6 Nov. 7 A close shave between the two totals may be magnified in the Electoral College into a chasm. 1964D. Varaday Gara-Yaka ix. 79 The leopard..tumbled in a heap between the crouching Freddie and me... ‘A very close shave,’ I muttered.
c. Naut. close to (also by, on, upon) a wind, and similar expressions: see quot. 1867. (In both adj. and adv. uses.)
1627Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. ix. 39 You set your sailes so sharp as you can to lie close by a wind. 1666Lond. Gaz. No. 60/4 Keeping their wind close to make the Lee⁓wards. Ibid. 66/4 They..stood all off to Sea, close on a wind. 1748Anson's Voy. ii. vii. 212 One of our prizes was ordered to stand close in with it [the Island]. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Close to the wind, when her head is just so near the wind as to fill the sails without shaking them. a1871N. P. Willis in Forster Life Dickens (1872) I. v. 87 Collarless and buttoned up, the very personification, I thought, of ‘a close sailer to the wind’.
d. fig. Pressing hardly. Cf. hard.
1742Richardson Pamela III. 222 Pray speak to your Lady: She is too close upon us.
e. Designating a cinema or television ‘shot’ taken with the camera at a short distance from the subject (cf. close-up); so close-medium shot (see quot. 1933).
1933A. Brunel Filmcraft 155 Close-Medium Shot, this is abbreviated C.M.S. A.C.M.S. of a figure cuts somewhere between the waist and the knees, and just above the head. 1940Chambers's Techn. Dict. 169/2 [A] close shot..may comprise, for example, two persons at a table. 1953K. Reisz Film Editing i. 25 Acting in close shot demands greater control and subtlety of expression than had hitherto been necessary.
16. Fitting tightly to the body, or head; close-fitting (clothes, cap, bonnet, etc.).
1488Nottingham Corporation Rec. MS. 1373, 96 Unum par caligarum vocatarum closse hosse ad valentiam ijs. ijd. 1509Ibid. MS. 1382, 114 Pro uno pari caligarum vocatarum closse hose. 1632Massinger & Field Fatal Dowry iv. i, Fight with close breeches. 1671Charente Let. Customs 41 A close Coat of Broad-cloth. 1738Common Sense (1739) II. 84 He habits himself in a Close-Frock. 1788Priestley Lect. Hist. iii. xv. 129 The Roman cloaths were not made close, but large, and loose. 1824Scott Redgauntlet let. vii, Her simple close cap. c1875M. B. Hunt Aunt Tabitha's Waifs iii. 22 Aunt Tabitha's shawl and close bonnet.
17. Closely attached, intimate, confidential: said of persons and relations.
1577–87Holinshed Chron. I. 87/2 Letters sent to him from some close friends. 1711Steele Spect. No. 80 ⁋1 A close Intimacy between their Parents. 1815Scribbleomania 197 The close alliance..between this country and the Peninsula. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 257 A close friendship had arisen between the girls. 1859Tennyson Geraint & Enid 22 Seeing them so tender and so close.
18. fig. Of approximation, resemblance, etc.
1718Freethinker No. 101. 327, I shall endeavour at a close Translation of the Remainder. c1750Chatham Lett. Nephew i. 1 Your translation..is very close to the sense of the original. 1794Paley Evid. ii. vi. (1817) 160 In close conformity with the Scripture account. 1860Hawthorne Marb. Faun i, The resemblance is very close and very strange.
19. Of examination, attention, etc.: Directed strictly and closely to the subject of consideration; strict, minute, searching.
1662Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. i. ii. §1 We now come to a closer, and more particular consideration of the Histories. 1772Priestley Inst. Relig. (1782) I. 168 Well worth the closest attention. 1781Sir J. Reynolds Journ. Flanders & Holl. (R.), Worthy the closest attention of a painter. 1805Med. Jrnl. XIV. 411 Confirmed by the closest investigation. 1857E. A. Bond Russia 16th c. (Hakluyt) Introd. 64 Under a close cross-questioning.
b. spec. in Literary Criticism, close criticism, close reading, etc., critical and detailed analysis of a text; an example of this. Also applied to the analysis of other works of art.
1932F. R. Leavis How to teach Reading ii. 40 To recommend close analytic study of a few poems of each of the authors in question is not to discourage further attention to those authors... On the contrary, it is impossible that anyone who had done such close work locally would not..go on to further exploration. 1937J. C. Ransom in Virginia Q. Rev. Autumn 586 Philosophers have not proved that they can write close criticism by writing it; and I have the feeling that even their handsome generalizations are open to suspicion as being grounded more on other generalizations, those which form their prior philosophical stock, than on acute study of particulars. 1938V. Woolf Diary 26 May (1984) V. 144, I think to fill in the time quietly by forcing myself to do a Horace Walpole sketch for America. Why not? It means close reading. 1951Mind LX. 103 Begin with the two short papers..only eleven pages in all. They certainly demand ‘close reading’. 1952L. A. Fiedler in Sewanee Rev. LX. 259 In a world of..‘close-reading’ (a cant phrase of the antibiographist) as an ideal, one cannot even talk of so large an abstraction as poetry. 1959Listener 20 Aug. 289/3 English ‘close’ criticism is at its best when it deals with writers such as Malraux, Sartre, and Camus. 1983Times Lit. Suppl. 11 Feb. 134/3 A specifically literary criticism..would surely call for special concern for the text. Hence I am very sympathetic with de Man's concern for ‘close-reading’. 1984Ibid. 23 Mar. 317/1 The chief virtue of his..book is found in his close readings of the ways Léger's drawings and paintings actually appear.
20. a. Said of a contest of any kind in which the two sides are very nearly equal in numbers or strength.
1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. 146 Vehement debates and close divisions. Mod. There was a very close contest for the prize.
b. Having parties or votes nearly equal in number. U.S.
1870Congress. Rec. 30 Jan. 1042/1 St. Helena is a very close parish. In 1870 it gave 30 democratic majority. 1887Ibid. 20 Jan. App. 50/1 What do you mean by ‘doubtful’ counties?.. Close counties, like some of those in the State of..Virginia. 1904H. L. West in Forum July 17 In the last Congressional election there were comparatively few close districts.
B. adv. (No strict dividing line can be drawn between predicative uses of the adjective, and the adverbial use into which these gradually pass; but where the latter is fully developed, closely is now preferred in ordinary prose.)
1. In (or into) a position in which the intervening space is closed up, so that there is no interval; in immediate contact or proximity; as near as can be, very near. Esp. with stand, sit, lie, stick, cling, keep, hold, press, etc., or with vbs. of motion, as come, bring, etc.
a. Of the mutual proximity of two or more things. (Often with the addition of together.)
1489Caxton Faytes of A. i. ix. 24 To kepe hem self clos togidre. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 301 They roade..close together in good aray. Ibid. II. 524 The Englishe men kept themselves so close, that their enemies coulde have no advauntage of them. 1589Pappe w. Hatchet (1844) 17 All his workes bound close, are at least sixe sheetes in quarto. 1611Bible 1 Macc. xii. 50 They..went close together, prepared to fight. 1614Bp. Hall Recollect. Treat. 852 Let us pile up all close together. 1633G. Herbert Temple, Providence xxxiv, Where all the guests sit close. 1796Morse Amer. Geog. I. 147 The farms lie pretty close all the way.
b. Of the proximity of one thing to another. With to, on, upon, about, beside, behind, below, in, etc.
a1400Morte Arth. 1196 The clubbe..That in couerte the kynge helde closse to hym seluene. c1400Destr. Troy 12501 Thurgh the claterand clowdes clos to the heuyn. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 263 One to go..close to the sea side. 1601Shakes. Jul. C. iv. iii. 164 Now sit we close about this Taper heere. 1611Bible Prov. xviii. 24 A friend that sticketh closer then a brother. ― Jer. xlii. 16 The famine..shall follow close after you. 1656Cowley Davideis i. note 46 Naioth was a place in, or close by Rama. 1664Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 190 Close to the Ground. 1712Steele Spect. No. 514 ⁋3 Here I kept close to my guide. 1872[see in adv. 3]. 1885Law Rep. 10 Appeal Cases 379 The dam, which is close to the side of the road. 1930San Anton. (Texas) Light 31 Jan. 14/8 Furnished apartment; close-in.
c. Naut. close to a wind, etc.: see A 15 c.
d. fig. Of other than the literal relation of space.
1576A. Fleming Panoplie Ep. 409 To sit close at your book. 1709Steele Tatler No. 44 ⁋5 Be sure you stick close to my Words. 1712― Spect. No. 466 ⁋1 He keeps close to the Characters he represents. 1732Berkeley Alciphr. dial. 1 §4 Wks. 1871 II. 30 Keep close to the point. 1788Franklin Autobiog. Wks. 1840 I. 120 Sticking close to my business. 1883Stubbs' Mercantile Gaz. 8 Nov. 982/2 A falling-off in British imports of close upon 50 per cent. 1884Gustafson Found. Death i. (ed. 3) 6 Though for close on two thousand years a landless people. 1888G. M. Fenn Off to Wilds xx. 147 It was getting close upon noon.
†e. ‘Full to the point; home’ (J.). Obs.
a1700Dryden (J.), I am engaging in a large dispute, where the arguments are not like to reach close on either side.
†2. Secretly, covertly. Obs.
1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 241 (Mätz.) Siluestris Merlyn..prophecied..Openliche, nouȝt so cloos [apertius] As Merlyn Ambros. 1632Lithgow Trav. ix. (1682) 377 Peter of Arragon contrived his purpose so close. 1650Fuller Pisgah ii. viii. 176 He hid an hundred Prophets, so close, that neither foes nor friends knew thereof.
3. In strict confinement. Also † close up.
1562Apol. Priv. Mass. (1850) 20 Have all the Communicants in one place close up. 1616Surfl. & Markh. Country Farme 122 Shut vp a dogge close in some place for three daies. 1647–8Sir C. Cotterell Davila's Hist. Fr. (1678) The Bailey..was laid close up by order from the King.
4. Tightly, fast, so as to leave no interstices, outlets, or openings.
1596Harington Metam. Ajax (1814) 9 Close plastered with good lime and hair. 1684R. Waller Nat. Exper. 25 Then fasten, and close stop the two Canes together..with Cement. 1715Desaguliers Fires Impr. 130 It shuts close. Ibid. 131 It will be close shut.
†5. Completely, quite, clean. Obs. Sc.
1637Rutherford Lett. lxxxviii. (1862) I. 227 When we should be close out of love and conceit of any masked and forded louer. 1637–50Row Hist. Kirk (1842) 251 To take closse away (if possible) this diversitie of judgment.
6. Constantly. Sc.
1825Jamieson s.v., ‘Do you ay get a present when you gang to see your auntie?’ ‘Aye, close.’ Mod. Sc. He is close there.
7. In various senses, in which closely is now the ordinary word.
1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. i. ix. 24 It is good to follow the light close. 1667Dryden Ess. Dram. Poesie Wks. 1725 I. 20 Not like to reach close on either side. 1673Marvell Reh. Transp. II. 195, I will explain myself as distinctly as I can, and as close as possible. 1703Moxon Mech. Exerc. 199 Screw your Pike wider or closer, according as the length of your Work requires. 1727Swift Country Post, A mouse that was close pursued. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) VII. 241 When we look closer. 1833Thirlwall, in Philol. Museum II. 160 The closer they are examined, the more suspicious do they appear. Ibid. II. 559 They occur in Plato most frequently where he is imitating Socrates closest.
8. Also commonly used in combination (more or less permanent) with pa. pples.: see C 2.
C. Combinations.
1. Parasynthetic, as close-curtained, close-eared, close-headed, close-hearted, close-jointed, close-lipped, close-meshed, close-minded, close-mouthed, close-tempered, close-tongued, close-visaged, etc.
1479in Eng. Gilds (1870) 427 That no maner of personne goo a mommyng with cloce visaged. 1593Shakes. Lucr. 770 Whispering conspirator With close-tongued treason. 1599Massinger, etc. Old Law v. i, Justice..Should ever be closed-eared, and open-mouthed. 1625K. Long tr. Barclay's Argenis v. iii. 337 Men could hardly be close-hearted to such as they affected. 1634Milton Comus 554 The litter of close-curtained Sleep. 1853M. Arnold Scholar Gipsy xx, With close-lipp'd Patience for our only friend. 1854H. Miller Sch. & Schm. (1858) 223 The reputation of being..‘close-minded’. 1861Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. VI. 32 Close-headed Alpine Sedge. 1875J. Bennet Winter Medit. i. v. 132 A very close-meshed bag net. 1881Philada. Press 8 June 2 They set to work very close-mouthed. 1905Daily Chron. 10 Oct. 2/7 A thin close-lipped mouth. 1936A. Huxley Eyeless in Gaza xxx. 406 Close-lipped and crookedly, Mary was smiling.
2. The adv. with participles, as close-banded, close-barred, close-buttoned, close-clad, close-clamped, close-clapped, close-clipped, close-cropped, close-cut, close-drawn, close-fitting, close-grated, close-growing, close-grown, close-guarded, close-hung, close-kept, close-knit, close-packed, close-pent, close-set, close-shaven, close-shut, close-standing, close-woven, etc..
1784Cowper in Corr. (1904) II. 267 An honest man, *close button'd to the chin. 1853Tennyson Poems (ed. 8) 235, I turn'd once more, close-button'd to the storm.
1583Stanyhurst æneis ii. (Arb.) 67, *Close-clad with burnished armoure.
1892J. R. Lowell in Scribner's Mag. XI. 268 No skill of words could breed Such sure conviction as that *close-clamped lip. 1906Daily Chron. 27 Sept. 4/4 Water-tight compartments..with their close-clamped doors.
1814Wordsw. White Doe iv. 51 *Close-clipt foliage green and tall. 1907Galsworthy Country House i. i. 1 Close-clipped grey whiskers. 1931T. H. Pear Voice & Personality 30 A crisp, concise and close-clipped pronunciation.
16022nd Pt. Return fr. Parnass. i. ii. What cares he for modest *close coucht termes.
1869E. A. Parkes Pract. Hygiene (ed. 3) 290 *Close-cut grass.
1655H. Vaughan Silex Scint. 62 Thy curtains are *close-drawn.
1870Bryant Iliad II. xxi. 306 *Close-fitting portals.
1897Daily News 16 Jan. 6/3 The abundance of the *close-growing hair. 1907B'ham Inst. Mag. Mar. 126 The close-growing pines shut all from our view.
1903Westm. Gaz. 2 Jan. 2/3 They showed like flame the *close-grown banks between. 1969Gloss. Landscape Work (B.S.I.) v. 39 Close-grown, of timber trees, grown so closely together that the normal outward spread of branches is checked.
1898W. Graham Last Links 105 The *close-guarded secret. 1903Westm. Gaz. 28 Jan. 2/3 Your door with its close-guarded wicket.
1904Daily Chron. 12 Sept. 8/5 Where the waters narrow between *close-hung woods. 1905Westm. Gaz. 20 May 3/3 That great sky close-hung with stars.
1912J. S. Huxley Indiv. in Animal Kingdom iv. 88 How much harder it is for a thin, loose-built man than for a *close-knit, compact one of equal weight, to make headway in a gale of wind. 1930W. O. Stapledon Last & First Men 26 The Confederacy at first appeared as a close-knit whole.
1867Whitman Leaves of Grass 172 The fire that suddenly bursts forth in the *close-pack'd square. 1935Burlington Mag. Aug. 93/2 Close-packed thought and intuition.
1784Cowper Task iv. 777 Sad witnesses how *close-pent man regrets The country.
1815Scott Guy M. xx, The *close-press'd leaves unoped for many an age.
1846R. Owen Lect. Anat. Vert. I. ix. 220 Conical teeth, as *close set and sharp pointed as the villiform teeth.
1909Westm. Gaz. 10 Apr. 15/1 A mass of close-set braiding.
1865Whittier in Atlantic Monthly XV. 563 Blind must be their *close-shut eyes. 1913D. H. Lawrence Love Poems 9 Why even now you speak through close-shut teeth.
1711Shaftesbury Charac. (1737) III. 135 With his hypothesis tack'd to him, and his opinions so *close-sticking.
1768–74Tucker Lt. Nat. (1852) I. 481 Learned and *close-thinking men.
3. Special combs.: close-annealing, = box-annealing (see box n.2 24); so close-annealed adj.; close-bed, a box-bed; † close-bow Sc., a closed bag or vessel; close-butts (Ship-building), see quot.; close call (colloq., orig. U.S.) = close shave (see A. 15 b above); close-carpet v., to cover the whole floor of (a room) with carpeting, to provide (a room) with a fitted carpet; so close-carpeted adj.; close-carpeting; close communion: see communion 7; close-coupled a., coupled close together; spec. Electr. (see quot. 1911); † close-guard, a guard in fence; hence to lie at close-guard; close-harbour, a harbour enclosed by breakwaters or excavated in the shore; close harmony, harmony in which the parts composing each chord lie closely together, usu. within an octave or twelfth; also attrib. and fig.; cf. barber-shop 2 b; close-herd v. (orig. U.S.) (see quot. 1887); also transf.; close-lagged a., closely covered with lagging (see lag v.4, lagging vbl. n.3); close-play, see quot.; close-range attrib., (used or acting) at or from a short distance; close-reach, a reach sailed close to the wind; also as v. intr., to sail on a close-reach; close-rolls, the rolls in which close-writs, private indentures, and recognizances, are recorded; † close-sciences, provincial name for the single Dame's Violet (Hesperis Matronalis); † close-shuts, windows which close; close-sight, the backsight of a gun or rifle; close-string, see quot.; close-time, see A 10; † close-wort, the plant Hen-bane (Hyoscyamus); close-writs, grants given to private persons for particular purposes, under the great seal.
1930Jrnl. Iron & Steel Inst. CXXI. 151 Those required with a nice bright finish such as pickled, cold-rolled, and *close-annealed sheets. 1932E. Gregory Metallurgy iv. 103 This is known as ‘*close-annealing’, as distinct from the more commercial ‘open’ method where the steel is in contact with the actual heating chamber.
1815Pennecuik Tweeddale 821 (Jam.) The *close bed is..where the place of curtains is supplied by a roof, ends, and back of wooden deal.
1535Stewart Cron. Scot. III 396 The Scottis hirdis..Of scrymplit ledder mony *closbow maid, Round as ane ball, of mony barkit skin.
1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Close-butts. 1874Knight Dict. Mech. I. 573/1 Close-butts, a fayed or rabbeted joint where the parts are so closely fitted or driven as to dispense with calking.
1881Harper's Mag. LXIII. 118/1 My! but that was a *close call. 1904F. Lynde Grafters xxiii. 284 Though he escaped with his life and his job, it was a close call. 1949‘J. Tey’ Brat Farrar vi. 45 The exciting things of life—riding, love-making, rescue, close calls.
1958J. Bingham Murder Plan Six i. 11 A pleasant room, low-ceilinged, *close-carpeted with a blue carpet. 1959Listener 4 June 990/2 We decided to close-carpet the whole room.
1942N. Balchin Darkness falls fr. Air xi. 198 A big room..fitted up..with *close-carpeting.
1824Baptist Mag. IV. 411 With these views of catholicism we do not see that the practice of *close communion at all interferes. 1834W. A. Caruthers Kentuckian in N.Y. I. 182, I thought that you were aware of my partiality for the close communion Baptist. 1883Schaff Relig. Encycl. I. 211/1 The American Baptists practise close communion.
1909Webster, *C[lose]-coupled circuit, Elec., a compound circuit composed of a closed circuit and an open circuit directly joined together. 1946Nature 5 Oct. 489/2 The apparatus consists of test chambers with close-coupled piping. 1958Times 23 July 6/1 Trailers with four close-coupled wheels, e.g. caravan trailers.
1655Fuller Ch. Hist. ix. v. §8 Desirous..to lie at a *close-guard, and offer as little play as may be on either side.
1614Bp. Hall Recollect. Treat. 886 *Close harbours of discontentment. 1726G. Shelvocke Voy. round World xi. (1757) 304 A good close harbour a little to the southward of us.
1876Stainer & Barrett Dict. Mus. Terms 100/2 *Close harmony, harmony produced by drawing the parts which form it closely together. 1884Examination Papers in Music (College of Preceptors) (1892) 4 Fill up the following in close harmony. 1933N. Coward Design for Living iii. i. 103 Gilda. You must both come to lunch one day... Leo..just the three of us... Close harmony. 1958Blesh & Janis They all played Ragtime viii. 155 Comedy skits, close-harmony ballads, waltzes, [etc.].
1874J. G. McCoy Hist. Sk. Cattle Trade 348 He outrides the country instead of *close herding his stock. 1887Scribner's Mag. Oct. 508/2 A friend..has heard a sheriff talk of ‘close-herding’ several prisoners in his charge. On the plains it means the difficult art of keeping cattle in a compact body, close together. 1925Mulford Cottonwood Gulch xii. 148 We've got to round-up, loose herd durin' the day, an' close herd nights. 1931Times Lit. Suppl. 26 Feb. 147/3 The commoners could only turn their stock out on the forest and could not close-herd them.
1883Specif. Alnwick & Cornhill Rlwy. 4 The centres are to be *close-lagged to the satisfaction of the Engineer.
1593W. Barley in Stainer & Barrett Dict. Mus. Terms, Thou shalt not neede but to remoove those fingers which thou shalt be forced, which manner of handling we call *close or covert play.
1909Daily Chron. 22 Jan. 3/4 It..is entitled ‘Every-Day Japan’, and is described as ‘a *close-range view of the Japanese people’. 1923Kipling Irish Guards in Gt. War I. 39 The enemy attacked—with rifle-fire and a close-range small piece.
1899Daily News 20 Oct. 5/7 The yachts *close-reached for home.
1612Davies Why Ireland, etc. (1747) 116 Found among the *close rolls of the Tower of London.
1597Gerarde Herbal cxvi. §2. 377 Dames Violets is called..in English Damaske Violets..and *close Sciences. 1640Parkinson Theat. Bot. 628 In the West parts..double sciney, and the single close sciney, but Gerard saith close sciences. [1879Prior Plant-n., Sciney, no doubt, arisen from its specific name Damascena, understood as Dame's Scena.] 1672W. Hughes Flower Garden (1683) 25 Queens Gilliflowers, or close-Siences, as some call them.
1615Markham Eng. Housew. ii. vii. (1668) 156 *Close-shuts or draw-windows to keep out the Frosts and Storms.
1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Close-sight.
1876Gwilt Archit. Gloss., *Close-string, in dog-legged stairs, a staircase without an open newel.
c1450Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 564/39 Apolinaris, *closwort.
▪ II. close, n.1|kləʊs|
Forms: 3–6 clos, 4– close. Also 4–5 cloos, 5 cloyse, clooce, 5–7 closse, 9 dial. clos, pl. closen, Sc. 6 cloce, 6–7 clois(s, 8– closs.
[a. F. clos:—L. clausum closed place, enclosure. Pronunciation and spelling as in the adj.]
I.
1. gen. An enclosed place, an enclosure.
1297R. Glouc. (1724) 7 Baþes þer beþ fele in þe clos & in þe stret. c1325Coer de L. 3098 Kyng Richard..walkyd abouten in the clos [rime aros]. c1460Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1866) 81 The hevynly kyng enteryd thy close virgynalle. c1500Melusine 267 He..camme to the barryers of the clos. 1647Sprigge Anglia Rediv. ii. iv. (1854) 106 Moving up and down in the closes before the royal fort. 1841–4Emerson Ess. Ser. ii. iii. (1876) 82 The universe is a close or pound. 1842Tennyson St. Sim. Styl. 73, I lay Pent in a roofless close of ragged stones.
†b. in close: in a closed place; in confinement, closed up, shut up.
c1340Cursor M. 8770 (Trin.) Þe tre..bigon to driȝe And semed wel bi þat purpos Men shulde no more hit holde in clos. 1393Gower Conf. I. 100 This knight on daies brode In close him held. 1540R. Hyrde tr. Vives' Instr. Chr. Wom. (1592) T iij, She..kept hir displeasure in close. 1626Bacon Sylva §99 This Distillation in close..like the Wombs and Matrices of Living Creatures.
c. Law. breaking one's close (law L. clausum frangere): see quot.
[1465Year Bk. 4 Edw. IV, 8. 9 Quare vi et armis clausum fregit.] 1817W. Selwyn Law Nisi Prius II. 1216 The land of every owner or occupier is enclosed and set apart from that of his neighbour, either by a visible and tangible fence..or by an ideal invisible boundary.. Hence every unwarrantable entry upon the land of another is termed a trespass by breaking his close. 1842Tennyson E. Morris, It seems I broke a close with force and arms.
2. In many senses more or less specific: as, An enclosed field (now chiefly local, in the English midlands); spec. (with capital initial), at certain schools, the name given to a school playing-field.
c1440Gesta Rom. lxx. 386 (Add. MS.) Thou haste stolne hym [the horse], and putt hym in thi close. 1479Bury Wills (1850) 52 A cloos called Scottes cloos, lying by the..cloos of Willam Brygges called Blabettys. 1526Tindale Matt. xiii. 27 Sowedest not thou good seed in thy closse? 1546Mem. Ripon (Surtees) III. 21 One cloise ther in the tenure of Edmonde Chambre. 1564Haward Eutropius i. 9 Seized of a close or field. 1712Arbuthnot John Bull (1755) 55 We measured the corn fields, close by close. 1821Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 72 Closes green and fallows brown. 1879G. F. Jackson Shropsh. Word-bk., Clos. 1881Leicestersh. Gloss. (E.D.S.), Close, pl. Closen. 1898H. Newbolt Island Race 69 He saw the School Close, sunny and green. 1898― ‘Vitai Lampada’ in Ibid. 81 There's a breathless hush in the Close to-night—Ten to make and the match to win. 1927Clifton Coll. Forty Years Ago iii. 15 The Rev. Joseph Greene{ddd}saw every ball bowled in the Close from year's end to year's end. 1967J. B. Hope Simpson Rugby since Arnold i. 27 In 1854 Goulburn presented a new field, which was added to the Close by the felling of trees, and was first used for cricket in 1856.
3. An enclosure about or beside a building; a court, yard, quadrangle, etc.
†a. gen. Obs.
c1440Promp. Parv. 83 Cloos, or yerde, clausura. 1480Caxton Chron. Eng. ccviii. 190 That bisshop had in london a fayre toure in makynge in his close vpon the riuer of the thamyse. 1641Evelyn Mem. (1857) I. 39 In the court next it are kept divers sorts of animals..In another division of the same close are rabbits. 1646Z. Boyd in Zion's Flowers (1855) App. 31/1 The Second Entrie whereby we enter into the Secund Cloiss [i.e. quadrangle].
b. A farm-yard. Now in Kent, Sussex, Scotl.
c1386Chaucer Nun's Pr. T. 540 Alle the hennes in the clos [v.r. cloos, close]. 1585James I. Ess. Poesie (Arb.) 45 When it grew lait, she made them flie, but doubt, Or feare, euen in the closse with her. 1637Rutherford Lett. No. 157 (1862) I. 361 The outer close of His house, His out-fields and muir-ground. 1796Pegge Anonym. (1809) 369 The farm-yard, in Kent, is called the Close. 1858M. Porteous Souter Johnny 17 [Ballochneil old farm-house]..on the opposite side of the ‘closs’ or courtyard of the steading. 1875Sussex Gloss., Close, a farm-yard.
c. The precinct of a cathedral. Hence sometimes = The cathedral clergy.
1371in J. Britton Cathedrals, York 80 Inwith þe close bysyde þe forsayde Kyrk. c1430Chev. Assigne 272 Alle þe bellys of þe close rongen at ones. a1587Foxe A. & M. (1596) 711 The Bishop and the close, were the more loth to burne him. 1587Harrison England ii. ii. (1877) i. 50 He [bishop Langton] began their close, and bestowed much in building the same. c1630Risdon Surv. Devon §107 (1810) 109 The church yard, called the Close, for that they are inclosed by certain gates. 1724De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 198 The earl..set upon Lichfield..but could not take the close. 1848Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 339 Closes surrounded by the venerable abodes of deans and canons.
†d. The precinct of any sacred place; a cloister.
c1449Pecock Repr. 550 It is alloweable and profitable that Lordis & Ladies haue Mansiouns with inne the Cloocis Gatis & Monasteries of the begging religiouns. c1450Castle Howard MS. Life St. Cuthbert 333 Þat he be getyn men suppose In hordome here within þis close. 1547Act 1 Edw. VI, c. 14. §19 (8) Such like Chapel whereunto..a little House or Close doth belong. 1601Holland Pliny II. 570 The chappels that are within the close or cloister belonging to the galleries of Octavia. 1628Hobbes Thucyd. i. cxxxiv, [Pausanias] ran into the close of the temple of Pallas.
†e. See quot. Obs.
c1440Promp. Parv. 83 Cloos, lybrary, archyvum.
4. An entry or passage. Now, in Scotland, esp. one leading from the street to dwelling houses, out-houses, or stables, at the back, or to a common stair communicating with the different floors or ‘flats’ of the building. Also variously extended to include the common stair, the open lane or alley, or the court, to which such an entry leads.
c1400Destr. Troy 301 A þre hedet hounde..was keper of the close of þat curset In. Ibid. 11264 Þai kepyn the cloyse of this clene burgh, With ȝep men at þe yatis ȝarkit full þik. Ibid. 12982 So keppit he the close of his clene Cité. 1525Aberdeen Reg. (Jam.), Cloiss. a1572Knox Hist. Ref. Wks. 1846 I. 175 Thei address thame to the myddest of the close. a1583Sempill Ballates 70 Tint be ane Tratour, steilling vp ane close. 1650Row Hist. Kirk (1842) 495 They resolved to preach in the Earle of Marshall's closse or hall, according as the weather should rule. c1730Burt Lett. N. Scotl. (1818) I. 56 [In Inverness] a little court or turn-again alley, is a closs. c1737in Scott Hrt. Midl. vii. note, A blind alehouse in the Flesh-market closs. 1764Reid Let. Wks. I. 40/1 A long, dark..entry, which leads you into a clean little close. 1853Reade Chr. Johnstone 46 At the very entrance of Newhaven..they ascended a filthy ‘close’ or alley. 1889Glasgow Wkly. Mail 17 Aug. 3/2 A close at 3 Salisbury Street, Glasgow.
b. Hence, close-head, close-mouth.
1818Scott Hrt. Midl. v, ‘That..chield there, without muckle greater parts, if the close-head speak true, than mysell.’ 1821Joseph the Book-Man 83 By strands and close-heads traders stand.
c. A short street closed at one end, a cul-de-sac. Often in proper names of such streets.
1723Defoe Life Col. Jacque (ed. 2) 70, I..cut into Little-Britain, so into Bartholomew-Close, then cross Aldersgate-street. 1885List of Subscribers, Classified (United Telephone Co.) (ed. 6) 125 Willmott & Sons, 54, 55, & 56, Bartholomew Close, E.C. 1938Post Office Lond. Directory 751/5 Pembroke Close, Belgravia (S.W.1) (Westminster), from 16 Grosvenor cres. to Halkin st. 1962A. Christie Mirror Crack'd i. 11 Why everything had to be called a Close she couldn't imagine. Aubrey Close and Longwood Close... Miss Marple knew what a Close was perfectly. Her uncle had been a Canon. 1985Oxford Times 8 Mar. 28/8 Immaculate..3-bedroom detached house in quiet close.
†5. A mountain defile or pass. Obs.
a1400Morte Arth. 1639 Here es þe close of Clyme with clewes so hye. a1550Scotish ffielde in Furniv. Percy Folio I. 225 He was killed in the close, ere he climbed the mountaine.
† II. 6. An enclosing line, boundary, circuit, pale. Obs.
c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 160 Lymosoun, A cite large in clos. c1440Promp. Parv. 83 Cloos, or boundys of a place, ceptum, ambitus. 1502Arnolde Chron. 169 The closse of thy orcharde wolde be set about with other highe trees. c1645Howell Lett. (1650) II. 12 They are not within the close of her fold.
▪ III. close, n.2|kləʊz|
Forms: 4 clos, 6 cloase, 6–7 cloze, 6– close.
[f. close v.]
1. The act of closing; conclusion, termination, end.
1399Rich. Redeles iv. 67 Er they come to the clos, acombrid thay were. 1633G. Herbert Temple, Rose vi, All that worldlings prize..biteth in the close [rime rose]. 1645Bp. Hall Rem. Discontents 64 When he shall come to his last close [death]. 1760Beattie Hermit, At the close of the day, when the hamlet is still. 1839Keightley Hist. Eng. II. 44 Toward the close of the year. 1856Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. v. 398 To bring the matter to a close once and for all. 1876Green Short Hist. iii. 137 The close of the struggle.
†b. The closing passage of a speech, argument, etc.
1579Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 67 Philautus..answered his forged gloase, with this friendly cloase. 1649Milton Eikon. Wks. 1738 I. 395 To which may be added as a close, that, etc. a1734North Lives I. 111 Divers members..made sharp closes to the prejudice of his name.
2. Music. The conclusion of a musical phrase, theme, or movement; a cadence.
1597Morley Introd. Mus. 127 False closes..deuised to shun a final end..be..either ascending or descending. 1629Milton Ode Nativity 99 The air..prolongs each heavenly close. 1706A. Bedford Temple Mus. viii. 163 The Voices alter from an Unison, in Order to make two Closes. c1860Goss Harmony xiii. 42 A Cadence or Close, signifies the last two chords of any passage. 1880Parry in Grove Dict. Mus. I. 375/1 Close..serves to express the ending of a phrase, etc...as a fact, and not as denoting the particular succession of chords which are recognised as forming a cadence.
b. fig.1599Shakes. Hen. V, i. ii. 182 Gouernment..doth keepe in one consent, Congreeing in a full and natural close, Like Musicke. 1658R. Flecknoe Enigm. Charac. (1665) 1 Like an air in musick, [it] is full of closes.
3. A closing or uniting together; union, junction.
1591Shakes. Two Gent. v. iv. 117 A hand from either: Let me be blest to make this happy close. 1601― Twel. N. v. i. 161 A Contract of eternall bond of loue..Attested by the holy close of lippes. 1674N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 111 The close or oneness therefore between ghost and body. 1821Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 73 [Thinking] on the blue horizon's line..She'd find the close of earth and sky.
b. of the leaves of a door.
a1634Chapman (J.), The doors of plank were; their close exquisite Kept with a double key.
4. A closing in fight; a grapple, struggle, encounter.
1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, i. i. 13 The intestine shocke, And furious cloze of ciuill Butchery. 1627–77Feltham Resolves i. xi. 15 Lest..they should get a wound in the cloze. 1810Scott Lady of L. v. xvi, Unwounded from the dreadful close, But breathless all, Fitz James arose. 1822B. Cornwall Love cured by Kindness, In eager close With Death.
†5. A closing or shutting up, closure. Obs.
1721Perry Daggenh. Breach 74 Not to attempt the close of my Dam.
†6. The closing in (of darkness or night). Obs.
a1700Dryden (J.), In the close of night, Philomel begins her heavenly lay.
▪ IV. close, v.|kləʊz|
Forms: α. 1 clýsan, 3 clusen; β. 3– close, (4 klose, 5 cloose, 7 cloze, north. 5–6 cloyse, 6 cloise, clois(s).
[ME. close-n (13th c.), a. OF. clos- stem (close pres. subj.) of clore:—L. claud-ĕre to shut, close. OE. had already the vb. clýs-an, f. clús(e, a. late L. clūsa = clausa ‘shut or enclosed place’. This came down to 13th c. in form cluse-n (ü), and probably close-n was at first viewed simply as a frenchified pronunciation of this earlier word: cf. biclusen, beclose.
In French clore is of little importance, having been almost superseded by fermer:—L. firmāre, to make firm or fast, to fasten. In English, on the other hand, close and its accompanying adj. and ns. have become great and important words, developing whole groups of senses unknown to French.]
I. To stop an opening; to shut; to cover in.
1. a. trans. To stop up (an opening or channel) so that it ceases to be open or to allow of passage. Where the opening is provided with a gate, door, or lid, turning on hinges or sliding, to ‘shut’ this is to close the opening; hence ‘close’ and ‘shut’ become to a certain extent synonymous, as in ‘shut’ or ‘close the door, the eyelid’, etc.
Close is, however, a more general word, to shut being properly only a way of closing; hence the former is generally used when the notion is that of the resulting state, rather than the process.
c1205Lay. 9760 Wel heo clusden heore ȝeten. 1297R. Glouc. (1724) 566 Hor ȝates hii wiþinne none closi nolde. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. vii. xxi. (1495) 239 A postume of the eere is heelyd and closyd. c1440Promp. Parv. 83 Closyn or schettyn..claudo. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 276 b, That no man sholde dyg ony pyt..but he sholde couer it agayne and close it. a1533Ld. Berners Huon xcv. 311 He..that closyth [v.r. shutteth] the stable dore whan the horse is stollen. 1555Eden Decades W. Ind. i. iii. (Arb.) 77 Riftes euyll closed. a1771Gray Descent Odin 57 Now my weary lips I close. 1798Coleridge Anc. Mar. iv. vii, I closed my lids and kept them close. 1856Emerson Eng. Traits, Relig. Wks. (Bohn) II. 99 A valve that can be closed at pleasure. 1856Kane Arct. Expl. I. xxiii. 282 A blank ice-cliff would close the way altogether. a1876J. H. Newman Hist. Sk. I. i. iii. 137 [They] allowed the cities which they passed by to close their gates upon them.
b. To close is also applied to the place, chamber, vessel, etc., to which the opening leads, or the thing which the lid shuts up, as in ‘to close (or shut) a box, the eyes, a book’, ‘to close a room’. In reference to places, close usually means that access to them is officially stopped for the time, as ‘the Bodleian Library is closed for a week’, ‘the grounds are closed to the public’. (In this sense shut up is colloquially used.)
1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xiv. 65 In Elyes tyme heuene was yclosed þat no reyne ne rone. 1382Wyclif Luke iv. 20 Whanne he hadde closid [Vulg. plicuisset, Ags. gefeald] the book. 1475Caxton Jason 116 His herte was so closed..with anguissh. 1480Wardr. Acc. Edw. IV (1830) 125 Blac papir and nailles for closyng and fastenyng of divers cofyns. 1667Milton P.L. viii. 459 Sleep..clos'd mine eyes. 1726Butler Serm. x. 193 It is as easy to close the Eyes of the Mind, as those of the Body. 1848Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 368 An attempt had been made..to close the coffee houses. 1870E. Peacock Ralf Skirl. III. 144 The lady had already closed her book. 1876Green Short Hist. iv. 199 The King's courts were closed, and all justice denied.
2. intr. (for refl.) To shut itself, become shut. Const. to close upon or over (what has entered, rarely upon what is without).
c1385Chaucer L.G.W. Prol. 62 (Cambr. MS. Gg. 4. 27. c 1440) Thanne closeth it [i.e. the flower] and drawith it to reste. 1393Gower Conf. II. 266 She made his woundes close. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. xviii. (1495) 123 Therby the mouth openith and closith. 1535Coverdale Numb. xvi. 33 The earth closed upon them, and so they perished. 1593Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, i. i. 24 These eyes shall neuer close. a1763Shenstone Poems Wks. 1764 I. 68 My ravish'd eyes! how calmly would they close! 1821Shelley Prometh. Unb. i. 40 When the rocks split and close again behind. 1879C. Dickens Life C. J. Mathews II. 255 On June 24th the eyes of the brilliant comedian closed upon the world in which he had worked so hard. Mod. The grave had closed over all he loved.
3. a. trans. To enclose, confine, encompass, shut up, in, within. Obs. or arch.
c1205Lay. 30698 Heo cluseden þer wið innen alle heore win-tunnen. 1297R. Glouc. (1724) 28 He lette close fuyr in metal. 1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 2817 Þai er closed with-in þe erthe alle. 1375Barbour Bruce x. 221 The cumpany That in his wayn closit he had. c1420Chron. Vilod. 835 Þe chest..In þe whyche þis blessud virgyn leyth yclosot inne. 1425Paston Lett. No. 5. I. 19, I sende yow copies..closed with this bille. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 144 The which..the king sent unto diverse prisonnes, and some he closed within the Castell. 1593Shakes. Lucr. 761 Some purer chest, to close so pure a minde. 1626Bacon Sylva (1677) §343 Fruit closed in Wax, keepeth fresh. 1643Prynne Sov. Power Parl. App. 20 They..deposed..their King..and closed him in a Monastery. 1710Hearne Collect. 23 May (Oxf. Hist. Soc.) II. 399 Her bones were closed in Leather. 1859Tennyson Merlin & V. 207 The man so wrought on ever seem'd to lie Closed in the four walls of a hollow tower.
†b. To ‘set’ (a jewel). Obs.
[c1325E.E. Allit. P. A. 2 Perle..To clanly clos in golde so clere.] 1530Palsgr. 487/2, I close a precyous stone..in golde or sylver..If this antique were closed in golde it were a goodly thynge.
†c. To enclose with walls, etc.; to enclose as walls or boundaries do. Obs.
1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 79 S. Cutberte's kirke [he] closed with a wall. c1400Mandeville iii. (1839) 15 That Arm [of the See] closeth the two partes of the Cytee. c1400Rom. Rose 3919, I wole with siker walle Close bothe roses and roser. 1551Recorde Pathw. Knowl. i. Defin., Varietees of lines that close no figures. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 267 Parys..was not as then walled nor closed.
d. fig. To include, contain within itself. arch.
1393Gower Conf. II. 90 The bible, in which the lawe is closed. c1400Rom. Rose 40 The Romaunt of the Rose, In which alle the art of love I close. 1538Starkey England i. iv. 138 Al closyd in thys straunge tong of the old Romanys. 1581Lambarde Eiren. i. iii. (1602) 11 The Lord Chancellor..and everie Justice..have (closed in their offices) a credit for conservation of the peace. 1842Tennyson Locksley Hall 14, I clung to all the present for the promise that it closed.
4. To fill up (a gap or open place); to bound, shut in. (Often with the notion of filling up or completing.)
1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 110 The trusty Guards come up, and close the Side. 1734tr. Rollin's Anc. Hist. (1827) VIII. xix. 198 The right wing was closed by 4000 slingers. 1807Director II. 335 A central door, contrived in the flat which closes the scene. 1856Stanley Sinai & Pal. xii. 403 Lebanon closes the Land of Promise on the north.
5. To cover from a blow or an aim, or from sight. Naut. To shut out from view with, behind.
c1430Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 3941 [Generides] spored tho his stede, And toward him fast he yede; Amalek closed him with his shelde. 1858Merc. Mar. Mag. V. 226 Closing Elizabeth Mansion behind Bradley's Head. Ibid. 227 After having once closed it with the..South Head.
†6. To keep close, keep out of sight or knowledge. Obs.
c1430Freemasonry 276 Hys mayster cownsel he kepe and close. 1430Lydg. Chron. Troy i. v, They can it close and hyde.
7. a. techn. in various senses: e.g. To cover in, leave no openings in; to roof in a building.
1659Willsford Archit. 24 The house being clos'd, boarding of the rooms is next. 1869E. J. Reed Shipbuild. xvii. 340 When these operations have been completed and the work ‘closed’, the riveting is commenced.
b. To arch in the top of a crown with crossing bands or ‘diadems’. Cf. close a. 1 b.
1766Porny Heraldry (1787) 214 The Crowns of other Christian Kings are Circles of gold..closed by four, six, or eight Diadems. Ibid. 216 The coronet of the Prince of Wales was anciently a Circle of gold..but since the Restoration it has been closed with one Arch only.
II. To put an end to an open state of matters.
8. a. trans. To conclude, bring to a close or end; to finish, complete. to close one's days: to die. to close an account: see account n. 2.[Already in L., as in claudere bellum, opus, cenam, etc.] c1400Destr. Troy 13664 After course of our kynd closit his dayes. 1439Will of C'tess Warw., Prerog. Court-bk. Luffenam lf. 213 My last will by me examyned and closid. 1640–1Kirkcudbr. War-Comm. Min. Bk. (1855) 138 Our valuationes was closet and sent to you in Marche last. 1667Milton P.L. iii. 144 That word which clos'd Thy sovran sentence. a1763Shenstone Poems Wks. 1764 I. 27 Where toil in peaceful slumber clos'd the day. 1802M. Edgeworth Mor. T. (1816) 233 Having closed his evidence. 1871Edin. Rev. Jan. 74 In favour of the power of closing debates. 1885Manch. Exam. 15 July 5/3 To close the subscription list.
b. to close a bargain. [Here bargain appears to have its earlier sense of negotiation, bargaining; but the phrase tends to be associated with those under 14, 14 c.]
1838Dickens Nich. Nick. xxxiv, He closed the bargain directly it reached his ears. 1840Marryat Poor Jack xlix, He had closed the bargain.
c. ellipt. = To close dealings with (obs.); to close a speech, remarks, or the like.
1642Rogers Naaman 535 His sonne Ahijah, who would not close with his Idols. 1885Manch. Exam. 20 June 5/3 Lord Derby closed with a reference to his own modest attempt at federation.
9. a. intr. To come to an end, terminate.
1821Scott Kenilw. xxiii, The summer evening was closed. 1877Mozley Univ. Serm. iii. 63 Life is boundless to him till it closes. 1884Tennyson Becket 14 Over! the sweet summer closes, The reign of the roses is done.
b. Stock Exchange. Of stocks or shares: to be at a certain price or position at the close of a day's trading.
1860Times 2 Jan. 7/3 Turkish Six per Cents. closed without alteration at 763/4 to 771/4. Ibid. 3 Jan. 5/3 Most of the leading British stocks closed a fraction higher than on Saturday. 1964Financial Times 12 Mar. 1/7 The Ordinary closed 3s 1½d up at 37s 6d to yield 4·8 per cent.
III. To bring or come into close contact.
†10.
a. trans. To bring close together so as to leave no opening or breach between; to bring into close contact or union; to conjoin, unite, bind (books) together, etc. Obs. in general sense.
1566Churchw. Acc. St. Dunstan's, Canterb., One boke of Artekelles..one letelle boke of prayer..thes iij bokes are closed together. 1595Shakes. John ii. i. 533 Close your hands And your lippes too. 1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. v. viii. 388 Hypocrisie consists of severall pieces cunningly closed together. 1655Baxter Quaker Catech. 12 The Spirit closeth these two together, even the Gospel and our Reason.
b. to close ranks or close files: to bring those composing them in close order so as to leave no gaps or slack parts. Also absol.
1649Selden Laws Eng. i. lvii. (1739) 107 The Barons and Clergy suddenly close their files, and like a stone wall stood firm to each other. 1796–7Instr. & Reg. Cavalry (1813) 247 The officers..will each successively..close his rear rank. 1844Regul. & Ord. Army 179 The Files are to be as well closed as may be consistent with marching perfectly at ease. 1847Infantry Man. (1854) 9 Right Close—Quick March. 1873Browning Red Cotton Night-Cap Country 248 They did not..close Their sooty ranks, caw and confabulate For nothing.
c. Shoemaking. To join together the pieces which form the upper-leather of a shoe or boot.
1801W. Huntington Bank of Faith (1866) 40, I taught my wife to close the shoes which I made. 1841Penny Cycl. XXI. 410 Many women get a livelihood by closing the shoe. The shoe being cut out and closed, goes through sundry operations. 1884Harper's Mag. Jan. 280/2 The small quarter and button piece are ‘closed’ on the large quarter.
†d. Cap-making. To make close (in texture).
1565Act 8 Eliz. c. 11. §4 The same Cap [shall] be first well scoured and closed upon the Bank.
e. Electr. To unite the parts of (a circuit) so as to make it complete. (See note to 11.)
1876Tait Rec. Adv. Phys. Sc. iv. 80 In this battery until the circuit is closed. 1878Foster Phys. iii. i. 394 Closing a galvanic circuit.
11. intr. To come close together in contact or union; to join, unite, combine, coalesce, meet in a common centre.
(As said of lines in quot. 1551, there appears to be a reference to the formation of a ‘closed figure’, i.e. one having a continuous periphery.)
1551Recorde Pathw. Knowl. i. Defin., Lynes make diuerse figures also, though properly thei maie not be called figures, as I said before (vnles the lines do close). 1577Hanmer Anc. Eccl. Hist. (1619) 29 They all close in the end, and sing with him the last verse. 1599Shakes. Hen. V, i. ii. 210 Many Lynes close in the Dials centre. 1704Newton Opticks (J.), The acid spirit..lets go the water, to close with the fixed body. 1766Porny Heraldry (1787) 213 From these rise four arched Diadems [of a crown]..which close under a Mound, surmounted of a cross. 1842Tennyson E. Morris, She turn'd, we closed, we kiss'd, swore faith. 1851― To the Queen 27 A thousand claims to reverence closed In her as Mother, Wife, and Queen.
12. a. intr. To draw near, approach close. Const. † to, Naut. with. Also, usually with sense of hemming in, to close about, on, round, upon.
1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. cxxii. 146 He ordayned..one to go on his right hande, closyng to the see syde. 1649Selden Laws Eng. i. lxiv. (1739) 129 They closed about this spark. 1823Scoresby N. Whale Fishery 68 The ice immediately began to close about us. 1833Marryat P. Simple xlv, We had closed with the brig. 1860Merc. Mar. Mag. VII. 71 Vessels may close with the land until within soundings of 5 or 6 fathoms. Mod. The men closed round him.
b. trans., chiefly Naut. To come close to or alongside of. to close the wind: to come near to the wind, to luff.
1673Prince Rupert in Lond. Gaz. No. 788/4 He sprung his Luff, and closed his Wind as much as..he could. 1833Marryat P. Simple xvi, We joined the fleet..closed the admiral's ship, and the captain went on board. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., To close the wind, to haul to it. 1882Times 27 Feb., We closed the island by 8 a.m.
13. intr. To come to close quarters or to grips; to engage in hand-to-hand fight, grapple with. Said of men, armies, ships.
1590Spenser F.Q. iii. i. 9 He fierce uprose..And snatching his bright sword began to close With her on foot. 1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, ii. i. 20 If I can close with him, I care not for his thrust. 1644Milton Educ. Wks. 1738 I. 139 To tug or grapple, and to close. 1718Pope Iliad xx. 511 Achilles closes with his hated foe. 1808Scott Marm. vi. xxv, They close in clouds of smoke and dust With sword⁓sway and with lance's thrust. 1818Jas. Mill Brit. India II. v. v. 477 The..winds prevented the squadrons from closing. 1865Dickens Mut. Fr. i. ii, The large man closed with him and proved too strong.
14. a. To come to terms or agreement (with a person).
1603Shakes. Meas. for M. v. i. 345 Harke how the villaine would close now. 1611― Wint. T. iv. iv. 830 Close with him, giue him Gold. 1656S. Winter Serm. 90 They not closing with Christ..the Covenant not long after was made void. 1711Addison Spect. No. 89 ⁋1 Without being able either to close with their Lovers, or to dismiss them. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. xi. (L.), In the hope that, by closing with them, he would lay the ground for a reconciliation.
b. to close with an offer, proposal, etc.: to accede to, give adhesion to, accept.
1645E. Pagitt Heresiogr. (1661) 255 When they can cloze with that which is called the chief Ordinance. 1654L'Estrange Chas. I (1655) 77 To close with the kings desires. 1766Goldsmith Vic. W. xiv, I readily closed with the offer. 1844Thirlwall Greece VIII. lxiv. 305 He immediately closed with the overtures of Philocles. 1859Tennyson Geraint & Enid 1063 Desire to close with her lord's pleasure.
c. To agree upon a measure, etc.
a1698Temple Wks. (J.), Would induce France and Holland to close upon some measures..to our disadvantage. 1826Disraeli Viv. Grey v. ii. 172 They should have closed upon her caprice, and taken her when she was in the fancy.
IV. Combined with adverbs:
15. close about [= OE. beclysan]. To close in on all sides, encompass.
1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 4459 Þai er noght swa closed obout Þat þai ne mught lightly com out. c1440Promp. Parv. 83 Closyn abowtyn, vallo. 1535Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 119 With his fais he wes closit about. 1611Bible Jonah ii. 5 The depth closed mee round about.
16. a. close down. To close by forcing or fastening down.
e.g. To close down the hatches of a ship in a storm.
b. To put an end to; to stop the working or use of.
1903N.Y. Even. Post 18 Sept. 2 President Shields has issued orders to close down all of the operations of the company. 1906Westm. Gaz. 5 Apr. 8/2 Every closed-down mine that had any prospects at the time when it was abandoned could..be reopened. 1927P. Cox in Lett. Gertrude Bell II. 537 The ringleaders were forthwith arrested; the two new extremist parties closed down and certain mischievous papers suppressed.
c. intr. To exercise repression; to act severely.
1869‘Mark Twain’ Innoc. Abr. xxiv. 254 They have set a gun-boat to watch the vessel night and day, with orders to close down on any revolutionary movement in a twinkling.
d. Of fog, night, etc.: to come down.
1883‘Mark Twain’ Life on Miss. 536 The night presently closed down.
e. To bring operations to a close; to cease being active or in use.
1921Flight XIII. 620/1 At 11.15 p.m. the order was given to ‘close down’. 1934N. & Q. 7 July 2/2 The Red Lion Brewery..‘closed down’, as the modern phrase is, on June 23. 1955J. P. Donleavy Ginger Man xxii. 258 With the light off and B.B.C. closed down for the night. 1967Listener 18 May 644/2 Sunday Citizen is to close down next month.
17. close in.
a. trans. To confine by closing the means of egress; to shut in, hem in, enclose.
c1400Melayne 129 The angele dange tham downn, That closede in that Cite. 1450–1530Myrr. our Ladye 261 The apostles..closed them in togyther. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 270 The Frenche king..thought verily to have closed the king of England in betweene Abvile and the river of Some. 1611Bible 1 Macc. vii. 46 They came forth out of all the townes..and closed them in.
b. To shut with inward motion.
1568Grafton Chron. II. 260 He drewe in his head and closed in his Wyndow. 1838Lytton Alice 9 The windows were closed in.
†c. intr. To come to terms or into agreement with. Obs.
1715South Serm. John vii. 17 I. 244 He presently closes in, accepts, and complies with it. a1745Swift (J.), To close in with the people. 1742T. Morrice in Orrery State Lett. I. 77 He..therefore charged his lordship to close in with the duke.
d. To draw near to, or to advance into contact with, to come to close quarters with. Also fig.
1704Swift T. Tub xi, I do now gladly close in with my subject. 1795Nelson 21 Mar. in Nicolas Disp. (1845) II. 21 Which enabled the Agamemnon and Inconstant to close in with her.
e. Said of what surrounds: to draw in upon, or approach from all sides, so as to shut in; hence said of the approach of night or darkness.
1816Jane Austen Emma III. v. 74 The evening is closing in. 1853Kane Grinnell Exp. xii. (1856) 95 The capricious ice closed in upon us. 1859Jephson Brittany ix. 139 Evening was closing in. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. §27. 206 As the night drew on, the mountains seemed to close in upon us. 1867Parkman Jesuits N. Amer. vii. (1875) 77 Night was fast closing in.
18. close off. To close and rule off (an account).
188.G. W. Cable Mad. Delphine v. 22 The moral account..was closed off, and the balance brought down.
†19.
a. close out. To shut out, exclude. Obs.
1382Wyclif Lament. iii. 8 He closede out myn orisoun [1388 excludid my prier]. c1490Promp. Parv. 83 (MS. K) Closyn oute or schettyn owt, excludo.
b. To clear out (a stock of goods); to wind up (a business); to sell or finish off. Also absol. U.S.
1852J. M. Letts California 159 We offered him [a mule] to Mr. Priest for six dollars... He offered two, at which we ‘closed him out’. 1884E. W. Nye Baled Hay 101 It will be closed out very cheap. 1891H. F. O'Beirne Leaders Ind. Territory I. 59/1 In 1879 he opened business in Audubon, Wise county, but closed out in 1883. 1903Lett. that bring Business vi. 58 If you could have closed them out with a little less than the 10s. reduction you mention. 1936[see closing vbl. n. 1 b]. 1945H. D. Smyth Gen. Acct. Devel. Atomic Energy Mil. Purposes x. 86 Problems closed-out during May 1944. 1961Amer. Speech XXXVI. 170, I abruptly ended this approach. I closed it out by September, 1958.
20. close to. intr. Naut. See 12 b.
1833Marryat P. Simple xv, The ship had closed-to within a quarter of a mile of the beach.
21. close up.
a. trans. To confine by building, blocking, or covering up; to confine out of sight or completely.
1530Palsgr. 488/1, I close up in a wall or I close up bytwene walles..emmurer..An ancker..closed up in a wall. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 289 The rest were closed up in the same Towre in prison. 1626Bacon Sylva (1677) §317 There were taken Apples and..closed up in Wax.
b. To close by blocking or filling up; to close completely, stop by closing.
1545Brinklow Lament. (1874) 89 God closeth vp the eyes of the Kynge. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 281 To close up the passage by the sea. 1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. v. ii. 9. 1653 Greaves Seraglio 110 He..closeth up his stomack with a Bocklava [marg. a Tart].
c. To close by bringing separate parts together.
1599Shakes. Hen. V, iv. Prol. 13 With busie Hammers closing Riuets vp. 1611Bible Gen. ii. 21 He tooke one of his ribs, and closed vp the flesh in stead thereof. 1704Addison Italy (J.), As soon as any public rupture happens, it is immediately closed up by moderation and good offices. 1860Tyndall Glac. ii. §17. 321 The walls of the crevasses are squeezed together, and the chasms closed up.
d. To end, complete; to sum up. Also absol.
1586A. Day Eng. Secretary ii (1625) 81 Having spoken sufficiently of a matter, we close up the sentence with these words. a1600Hooker Serm. Remedie agst. Sorrow & Fear (R.), To register in the Booke of Life after what sort his seruants haue closed vp their dayes on earth. a1635Naunton Fragm. Reg. (Arb.) 37, I must now close up. 1793E. Parsons Woman as she should be IV. 219 And now, my dear mother, I close up my correspondence from Grove-House.
e. intr. To close by the union or coalescence of separate parts; to come together so as to leave no intervals or gaps; esp. of ranks of soldiers.
1835L. Hunt Poems, Capt. Sword ii. 49 Close up! close up! Death feeds thick. 1841Lane Arab. Nts I. 101 The wall closed up again. 1885Gen. Grant Personal Mem. I. xxii. 302 Giving the two flanking divisions an opportunity to close up and form a stronger line.
▸ trans. To write or type the punctuation mark that typically forms the second of a pair of (brackets, quotation marks, etc., which enclose a piece of text). Freq. in imper. Hence forming noun compounds denoting such a punctuation mark, as close bracket, close quote, etc. Cf. open v. 17g.
1946Italica 23 371 (note) Close quotes beginning on p. 148. 1948Words into Type 282 (note) The terms curves, brackets, and round brackets are never used in printing offices for parentheses. The term there used is parens, separately designated open paren and close paren. 1967F. R. Rogers in ‘M. Twain’ Satires & Burlesques Pref. p. v, Almost habitually Mark Twain failed to close parentheses and internal quotations. 1969Jrnl. Symbolic Logic 34 141 The author makes the following corrections... To the 1961 paper: p. 502, lines 10, 12, and 19, there should be a double close-quotes. 1987R. Curtis & B. Elton Blackadder Third in R. Curtis et al. Black-adder (1998) 327/2 Open brackets, this is not a joke, I do not find my name remotely funny and people who do end up dead, close brackets. 2003Age (Melbourne) (Nexis) 3 Nov. a3. 2 Those dinky little semi-colon-close-bracket winks beloved of young mobile phone text-maniacs.
▪ V. close
obs. pl. clove n.2, and obs. f. clothes. |
