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/ˈkləʊz/
A1

Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

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verbTo remove or block an opening, gap or passage through.

verbTo remove or block an opening, gap or passage through., To move a thing, or part of a thing, nearer to another so that the gap or opening between the two is removed.

How many close friends do you have?
Close the door when you leave.
I had no idea the beach was so close.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
The store will ____ early on New Year's Eve due to the holiday.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Please ____ the door behind you when you leave the room today.

From Middle English closen (“to close, enclose”), partly continuing (in altered form) earlier Middle English clusen (“to close”) from Old English clȳsan (“to close, shut”); compare beclose, foreclose, etc.), and partly derived from Middle English clos (“close, shut up, confined, secret”, adjective), from Old French clos (“close, confined”, adjective), from Latin clausus (“shut up”, past participle), from claudō (“to bar, block, close, enclose, bring an end to, confine”), from Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂w- (“key, hook, nail”), related to Latin clāvis (“key, deadbolt, bar”), clāvus (“nail, peg”), claustrum (“bar, bolt, barrier”), claustra (“dam, wall, barricade, stronghold”). Cognate with Ancient Greek κλείω (kleíō), κλείς (kleís, “bar, bolt, key”), Russian заключи́ть (zaključítʹ) (via ключ (ključ)), German schließen (“to close, conclude, lock”), Dutch sluiten (“to close, conclude, lock”). Partially replaced Old English lūcan (“to close, lock, enclose”), (whence English lock). Doublet of clause.

"What deep wounds ever closed without a scar?" — 1816, Lord Byron, “Canto III”, in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. Canto the Third, London: […] [F]or John Murray, […], →OCLC, stanza LXXXIV:
"If I close my eyes I can see Marie today as I saw her then. Round, rosy face, snub nose, dark hair piled up in a chignon." — 1977, Agatha Christie, chapter 2, in An Autobiography, part II, London: Collins, →ISBN:
"One frugal supper did our studies close." — 1693, Decimus Junius Juvenalis, John Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis.] The Fifth Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […] Together with the Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC:
"If these brief lays, of Sorrow born, ⁠Were taken to be such as closed ⁠Grave doubts and answers here proposed, Then these were such as men might scorn: […]" — 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XLVII”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 70:
"The depth closed me round about." — 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Jonah 2:5:

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CEFR Practice Quiz
The store will ____ early on New Year's Eve due to the holiday.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Please ____ the door behind you when you leave the room today.

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