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.