Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

close

3 adverb
     
close3 S3 W2
1 not far away [= near]:
Come a little closer, so you can see better.
Her father lives quite close by.
They were sitting close together on the couch.
A variety of good restaurants are close at hand (=very near).
James heard footsteps close behind him.
Ronnie sped off, with his brother's car following close behind.
stay/keep close
We must all stay close.
hold/draw somebody close (=hold someone against your body)
He drew her close to him.
2

close up/up close/close to

from only a short distance away:
Now that I could see him close up, I saw that he was very attractive.
3

close on something/close to something

spoken used to talk about a number, amount etc that is almost exact, but not completely:
a voyage of close on 2000 miles
4

come close (to doing something)

a) to almost do something:
I tell you, I was so mad I came close to hitting her.
She came so close to the finals she must have been bitterly disappointed to go out now.
b) to be almost as good as someone or something else:
It's not as good as his last movie, but it comes pretty close.
5

a close run thing

British English a situation in which the people competing with each other are almost equal, so neither of them is more likely to win than the other:
The upcoming election looks likely to be a close run thing.
6

close on the heels of something

very soon after something else
come/follow close on the heels of something
Yet another scandal followed close on the heels of the senator's resignation.
7 near to the surface of something:
An electric razor doesn't really shave as close as a blade.
8

run somebody close

British English to be almost as successful, skilful etc as someone else:
Last season United ran them close both at home and away.

➔ sail close to the wind

at sail1 (6)
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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