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 secrecy, 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.
Close
(Close) adv.
1. In a close manner.
