close up

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See also: closeup and close-up

English

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Etymology

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Dissimilated from Middle English upclosen (to close up, stop up, seal).

Pronunciation

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Verb

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close up (third-person singular simple present closes up, present participle closing up, simple past and past participle closed up)

  1. (intransitive) To close (remove a gap) completely or fully.
    Some flowers close up at night to stay protected from the cold.
  2. (intransitive) To move nearer together so that a gap is removed.
    The crowd closed up and I couldn't get through to the train.
  3. (transitive, intransitive) To shut a building or a business for a period of time.
    Synonym: close
    We finally managed to close up the shop for the night at about 10 o'clock.
    The car factory has closed up for the August holidays.
  4. (intransitive) Of a cut or other wound: To heal.
    With stitches, the cut should close up in a week to ten days.
  5. (intransitive) To become less 'open' or communicative; to shrink back.
    to close up emotionally
  6. (intransitive, slang, Australia) To stop talking.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Anagrams

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