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closest |
2 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Close \Close\, a. [Compar. {Closer}; superl. {Closest}.] [Of. & F. clos, p. p. of clore. See {Close}, v. t.] 1. Shut fast closed; tight; as a close box. From a close bower this dainty music flowed. --Dryden. 2. Narrow; confined; as a close alley; close quarters. ``A close prison.'' --Dickens. 3. 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. 4. Strictly confined; carefully quarded; as a close prisoner. 5. Out of the way observation; secluded; secret; hidden. ``He yet kept himself close because of Saul.'' --1 Chron. xii. 1 ``Her close intent.'' --Spenser. 6. Disposed to keep secrets; secretive; reticent. ``For servecy no lady closer.'' --Shak. 7. 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. 8. Concise; to the point; as close reasoning. ``Where the original is close no version can reach it in the same compass.'' --Dryden. 9. 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. 10. Short; as to cut grass or hair close 11. 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. 12. Nearly equal; almost evenly balanced; as a close vote. ``A close contest.'' --Prescott. 13. Difficult to obtain; as money is close --Bartlett. 14. Parsimonious; stingy. ``A crusty old fellow, as close as a vise.'' --Hawthorne. 15. Adhering strictly to a standard or original; exact; strict; as a close translation. --Locke. 16. Accurate; careful; precise; also attentive; undeviating; strict; not wandering; as a close observer. 17. (Phon.) 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. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: closest adj : (superlative of `close') indicating the one of several that is the shortest distance away adv : (superlative of `near' or `close') within the shortest distance; "that was the time he came nearest to death" [syn: {nearest}, {nighest}]
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