- near; not far away
- + adv./prep. They sat close together.
- A second police car followed close behind.
- They are edging closer to an agreement.
- Don't come too close!
- He moved closer so that he could hear her better.
- I couldn't get close enough to see.
- The days were growing colder as winter drew closer.
- Stay close to me!
- She held Tom close and pressed her cheek to his.
Extra Examples- Get close to the microphone.
- Keep close to me.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs- be
- come
- draw
- …
- extremely
- remarkably
- very
- …
- to
Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French clos (as noun and adjective), from Latin clausum ‘enclosure’ and clausus ‘closed’, past participle of claudere.
Idioms
See close in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee close in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishbe close to/near the mark
- to be fairly accurate in a guess, statement, etc.
- Such guesses are thought to be close to the mark.
- ‘The Times’ was nearer the mark when it said…
close at hand
- near; in a place where somebody/something can be reached easily
- There are good cafes and a restaurant close at hand.
close by (somebody/something)
- at a short distance (from somebody/something)
- Our friends live close by.
- The route passes close by the town.
close on | close to
- almost; nearly
- She is close on 60.
- It is close on midnight.
- a profit close to £200 million
a close-run thing
- a situation in which somebody only just wins or loses, for example in a competition or an election
- Mr Taylor’s election defeat was a close-run thing.
- The invasion never happened but it was a close-run thing.
close to | close up | up close
- in a position very near to something
- The picture looks very different when you see it close to.
- I like those silver earrings in the window. Can I see them up close?
close up to somebody/something
- very near in space to somebody/something
- She snuggled close up to him.
come close (to something/to doing something)
- to almost reach or do something
- He'd come close to death.
- We didn't win but we came close.
- Millions of Britons will never come close to earning enough to buy their own home.
- The car came perilously close to running her down.
hold/keep/play your cards close to your chest
- to keep your ideas, plans, etc. secret
run somebody/something close
- (British English) to be nearly as good, fast, successful, etc. as somebody/something else
- Germany ran Argentina very close in the final.
sail close to the wind
- to take a risk by doing something that is dangerous or that may be illegalTopics Dangerc2
Check pronunciation:
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