close

Make something no longer open, or become no longer open.

• Please close the window.
• She closed her eyes and rested.
• The door closes automatically behind you.

Similar words: shut

Opposites: open

Common phrases: close the door, close your eyes, close a book, close the lid

Stop serving customers or doing business, either for a while or permanently.

• The shop closes at five.
• They closed the factory last year.
• Is the restaurant closing for the holidays?

How to use it: close at + time (The bank closes at four.); close for something (The café closes for the winter.)

Similar words: shut, shut down, cease trading

Opposites: open

Common phrases: close a shop, close for lunch, close down, close at six

Make the distance or difference between things smaller, or remove it completely.

• She ran faster to close the gap.
• The distance between the boats slowly closed.
• Extra funding helped close the gap in our budget.

How to use it: close the gap between A and B (The policy aims to close the gap between rich and poor.)

Similar words: narrow, reduce, eliminate

Opposites: widen, increase

Common phrases: close the gap, close the distance, close a budget gap

Bring something to an end, or reach its end.

• The chair closed the meeting.
• Her speech closed with a thank-you.
• The festival closes tomorrow evening.

How to use it: close with something (The concert closed with a song everyone knew.)

Similar words: end, finish, conclude

Opposites: begin, start

Common phrases: close a meeting, close with something, close a chapter

Finish making an agreement so that a sale or business deal is settled.

• We closed the deal today.
• She hopes to close the sale before Friday.
• They finally closed the deal after weeks of talks.

Similar words: finalize, complete, conclude

Common phrases: close a deal, close a sale, close the transaction

Have a particular price when trading ends for the day.

• The shares closed higher today.
• Oil closed at eighty dollars a barrel.
• The euro closed lower after the announcement.

How to use it: close at + price (The shares closed at twelve dollars.)

Similar words: finish, end

Common phrases: close at something, close higher, close lower

The end of an event, activity, or period of time.

• The meeting came to a close.
• Please reply by close of business tomorrow.
• At the close of the year, we reviewed our progress.

How to use it: the close of something (At the close of the meeting, everyone thanked the chair.); bring something to a close (The final song brought the concert to a close.)

Similar words: end, finish, conclusion

Opposites: beginning, start

Common phrases: the close of something, close of business, to a close, at the close

Near someone or something in place or time.

• The shops are close.
• Her birthday is close to mine.
• We could hear the birds at close range.

How to use it: close to someone/something (Our house is close to the station.)

Similar words: near, nearby

Opposites: far, distant

Common phrases: close to something, at close range, close contact