close

/kləʊs/ adjective

Definition

DISTANCE › near in distance: His house is close to the sea.

TIME › near in time: It was close to lunchtime when we arrived.

FRIENDLY › If people are close, they know each other very well and like each other a lot: close friends I'm very close to my brother.

RELATIVE [always before noun] › A close relative is someone who is directly related to you, for example your mother, father, or brother.

RELATIONSHIP › seeing or talking with someone a lot: Our school has close links with a school in China. I'm still in close contact with my school friends.

be/come close to doing sth › to almost achieve or do something: We are close to reaching an agreement.

be close to sth › If someone or something is close to a particular state, they are almost in that state: She was close to tears.

COMPETITION › A close game, competition, etc is one in which people's scores are nearly the same.

CAREFUL [always before noun] › looking at or listening to someone or something very carefully: On close inspection, you could see that the painting was a fake. Keep a close watch on the children (= watch them carefully).

WEATHER › Close weather is too warm and there is not enough fresh air.

closeness noun [U]

(Definition of close adjective from the Cambridge Learner's Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)