CLOSE, v.t.

1. Shut fast; tight; made fast, so as to have no opening; as, a close box; a close vizard.
2. Having parts firmly united; compact; dense; applied to solid substances of any kind; as, the close texture of wood or metal.
3. Having parts firmly adhering; viscous; tenacious; as oil, or glue. – Wilkins.
4. Confined; stagnant; without ventilation or motion; as, close air.
5. Confined; retired. While David kept himself close. – 1 Chron. xii.
6. Hid; private; secret; as, to keep a purpose close. – Numb. v. Luke ix.
7. Confined within narrow limits; narrow; as, a close alley.
8. Near; within a small distance; as, a close fight or action.
9. Joined; in contact or nearly so; crowded; as, to sit close.
10. Compressed, as thoughts or words; hence, brief; concise; opposed to loose or diffuse. Where the original is close, no version can reach it in the same compass. – Dryden.
11. Very near, in place or time; adjoining, or nearly so. I saw him come close to the ram. – Dan. viii. They sailed close by Crete. Acts xxvii. Some dire misfortune follows close behind. – Pope.
12. Having the quality of keeping secrets, thoughts or designs; cautious; as, a close minister. Hence in friendship, trusty; confidential.
13. Having an appearance of concealment; implying art, craft or wariness; as, a close aspect. – Shak.
14. Intent; fixed; attentive; pressing upon the object; as, to give close attention. Keep your mind or thoughts close to the business or subject. – Locke.
15. Full to the point; home; pressing; as, a close argument; bring the argument close to the question. – Dryden.
16. Pressing; earnest; warm; as, a close debate.
17. Confined; secluded from communication; as, a close prisoner.
18. Covetous; penurious; not liberal; as, a close man.
19. Applied to the weather or air, close, in popular language, denotes warm and damp, cloudy or foggy, or warm and relaxing, occasioning a sense of lassitude and depression. Perhaps originally, confined air.
20. Strictly adhering to the original; as, a close translation.
21. In heraldry, drawn in a coat of arms with the wings close, and in a standing posture. – Bailey. Close election, an election in which the votes for the different candidates are nearly equal. Close communion, with Baptists, communion in the Lord's supper with their own sect only. Close vote, an election in which the number of votes for the different persons or different sides of a question is nearly equal.

Closely; nearly; densely; secretly; pressingly. Behind her death / Close followed, pace for pace. – Milton.

1. An inclosed place; any place surrounded by a fence or other body which defends or confines it, particularly a field, or portion of land.
2. Conclusion; termination; final end; as, the close of life; the close of day or night.
3. A temporary finishing; a pause; rest; cessation; intermission. At every close she made, th' attending throng Replied, and bore the burden of the song. – Dryden.
4. The manner of shutting. The doors of plank were; their close exquisite. – Chapman.
5. A grapple in wrestling. – Bacon.

1. To unite; to coalesce; to come together; as the parts of a wound or fracture, or parts separated; often followed by on or upon. The fat closed upon the blade. – Judges iii. The earth closed upon them. – Num. xvi.
2. To end; to terminate, or come to a period; as, the debate closed at six o'clock. To close on or upon, to come to a mutual agreement; to agree on or join in. France and Holland might close upon some measures to our disadvantage. – Temple. To close with, to accede to; to consent or agree to; as, to close with the terms proposed. When followed by the person with whom an agreement is made, to make an agreement with; to unite with; as, to close with an enemy. He took the time when Richard was deposed, / And high and low with happy Harry closed. – Dryden. In this sense, to close in with is less elegant. To close with, or to close in with, to unite; to join closely; to grapple, as persons in a contest; applied to wrestlers, when they come to close embrace for scuffling.

1. To shut; to make fast, by pressing together, or by stopping an open place, so as to intercept a passage, in almost any manner; as, to close the eyes; to close a gate, door or window. In these and other cases, closing is performed by bringing an object before the opening. To close a book, is to bring the parts together. The Lord hath closed your eyes. Is. xxix. He closed the book. Luke iv.
2. To end; to finish; to conclude; to complete; to bring to a period; as, to close a bargain, or contract. One frugal supper did our studies close. – Dryden.
3. To unite, as the parts of a breach or fracture; to make whole; to consolidate; often followed by up. The Lord closed up the flesh instead thereof. – Gen. ii.
4. To cover; to inclose; to encompass; to overwhelm. The depths closed me round about. – Jonah ii.
5. To inclose; to confine. [See Inclose.]
6. To move or bring together; to unite separate bodies or parts; as, to close the ranks of an army.

1. To stop, or fill up, as an opening; to shut; as, to close the eyes; to close a door.
2. To come together; to unite or coalesce, as the parts of a wound, or parts separated.
   
   

   What deep wounds ever closed without a scar?
   Byron.

3. The manner of shutting; the union of parts; junction.
   
   
   [Obs.]

   The doors of plank were; their close exquisite.
   Chapman.

4. An inclosed place] especially, a small field or piece of land surrounded by a wall, hedge, or fence of any kind; -- specifically, the precinct of a cathedral or abbey.
   
   

   Closes surrounded by the venerable abodes of deans and canons.
   Macaulay.

5. Shut fast] closed; tight; as, a close box.
   
   

   From a close bower this dainty music flowed.
   Dryden.

6. In a close manner.
7. To bring together the parts of; to consolidate; as, to close the ranks of an army; -- often used with up.
8. To end, terminate, or come to a period; as, the debate closed at six o'clock.
9. Conclusion; cessation; ending; end.
   
   

   His long and troubled life was drawing to a close.
   Macaulay.

10. A narrow passage leading from a street to a court, and the houses within.
    
    
    [Eng.] Halliwell
11. Narrow; confined; as, a close alley; close quarters.
    
    
    "A close prison." Dickens.
12. Secretly; darkly.
    
    
    [Obs.]

    A wondrous vision which did close imply
    The course of all her fortune and posterity.
    Spenser.

13. To bring to an end or period; to conclude; to complete; to finish; to end; to consummate; as, to close a bargain; to close a course of instruction.
    
    

    One frugal supper did our studies close.
    Dryden.

14. To grapple; to engage in hand-to-hand fight.
    
    

    They boldly closed in a hand-to-hand contest.
    Prescott.

    To close on or upon, to come to a mutual agreement; to agree on or join in. "Would induce France and Holland to close upon some measures between them to our disadvantage." Sir W. Temple. -- To close with. (a) To accede to; to consent or agree to; as, to close with the terms proposed. (b) To make an agreement with. -- To close with the land (Naut.), to approach the land.

15. A grapple in wrestling.
    
    
    Bacon.
16. The interest which one may have in a piece of ground, even though it is not inclosed.
    
    
    Bouvier.
17. Oppressive; without motion or ventilation; causing a feeling of lassitude; -- said of the air, weather, etc.
    
    

    If the rooms be low-roofed, or full of windows and doors, the one maketh the air close, . . . and the other maketh it exceeding unequal.
    Bacon.

18. To come or gather around; to inclose; to encompass; to confine.
    
    

    The depth closed me round about.
    Jonah ii. 5.

    But now thou dost thyself immure and close
    In some one corner of a feeble heart.
    Herbert.

    A closed sea, a sea within the jurisdiction of some particular nation, which controls its navigation.

19. The conclusion of a strain of music; cadence.
    
    
    (b)
20. Strictly confined; carefully quarded; as, a close prisoner.
21. Out of the way observation; secluded; secret; hidden.
    
    
    "He yet kept himself close because of Saul." 1 Chron. xii. 1

    "Her close intent."
    Spenser.

22. Disposed to keep secrets; secretive; reticent.
    
    
    "For secrecy, no lady closer." Shak.
23. Having the parts near each other; dense; solid; compact; as applied to bodies; viscous; tenacious; not volatile, as applied to liquids.
    
    

    The golden globe being put into a press, . . . the water made itself way through the pores of that very close metal.
    Locke.

24. Concise; to the point; as, close reasoning.
    
    
    "Where the original is close no version can reach it in the same compass." Dryden.
25. Adjoining; near; either in space; time, or thought; -- often followed by to.
    
    

    Plant the spring crocuses close to a wall.
    Mortimer.

    The thought of the Man of sorrows seemed a very close thing -- not a faint hearsay.
    G. Eliot.

26. Short; as, to cut grass or hair close.
27. Intimate; familiar; confidential.
    
    

    League with you I seek
    And mutual amity, so strait, so close,
    That I with you must dwell, or you with me.
    Milton.

28. Nearly equal; almost evenly balanced; as, a close vote.
    
    
    "A close contest." Prescott.
29. Difficult to obtain; as, money is close.
    
    
    Bartlett.
30. Parsimonious; stingy.
    
    
    "A crusty old fellow, as close as a vise." Hawthorne.
31. Adhering strictly to a standard or original; exact; strict; as, a close translation.
    
    
    Locke.
32. Accurate; careful; precise; also, attentive; undeviating; strict; not wandering; as, a close observer.
33. Uttered with a relatively contracted opening of the mouth, as certain sounds of e and o in French, Italian, and German; -- opposed to open.
    
    

    Close borough. See under Borough. -- Close breeding. See under Breeding. -- Close communion, communion in the Lord's supper, restricted to those who have received baptism by immersion. -- Close corporation, a body or corporation which fills its own vacancies. -- Close fertilization. (Bot.) See Fertilization. -- Close harmony (Mus.), compact harmony, in which the tones composing each chord are not widely distributed over several octaves. -- Close time, a fixed period during which killing game or catching certain fish is prohibited by law. -- Close vowel (Pron.), a vowel which is pronounced with a diminished aperture of the lips, or with contraction of the cavity of the mouth. -- Close to the wind (Naut.), directed as nearly to the point from which the wind blows as it is possible to sail; closehauled; -- said of a vessel.