Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

closed

[klohzd]
See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. having or forming a boundary or barrier: He was blocked by a closed door. The house had a closed porch.
  2. brought to a close; concluded: It was a closed incident with no repercussions.
  3. not public; restricted; exclusive: a closed meeting; a closed bid at a private auction.
  4. not open to new ideas or arguments.
  5. self-contained; independent or self-sufficient: a closed, symbiotic relationship.
  6. Phonetics. (of a syllable) ending with a consonant or a consonant cluster, as has, hasp.Compare open(def 35b).
  7. Linguistics. (of a class of items) limited in membership and not readily expanded to include new items, as the class of inflectional affixes, articles, pronouns, or auxiliaries (opposed to open).
  8. Hunting, Angling. restricted as to the kind of game that may be legally taken and as to where or when it may be taken: woods closed to deer hunters.
  9. Mathematics.
    1. (of a set in which a combining operation between members of the set is defined) such that performing the operation between members of the set produces a member of the set, as multiplication in the set of integers.
    2. (of an interval) containing both of its endpoints.
    3. (of a map from one topological space to another) having the property that the image of a closed set is a closed set.
    4. (of a curve) not having endpoints; enclosing an area.
    5. (of a surface) enclosing a volume.
    6. (of a function or operator) having as its graph a closed set.

Origin of closed

Middle English word dating back to 1175–1225; see origin at close, -ed2
Related formshalf-closed, adjectivesem·i·closed, adjectivewell-closed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for half-closed

Historical Examples

  • Again the priest, with half-closed eyes, snuggled into his cushions.

    A Nest of Spies

    Pierre Souvestre

  • Then he half-closed his large, pale eyes, and tilted his head a little.

    Captain Blood

    Rafael Sabatini

  • "I think I understand you," said he, with a cunning expression in his half-closed eyes.

    A Day's Ride

    Charles James Lever

  • He arose and watched them through the half-closed jalousies.

    Tony Butler

    Charles James Lever

  • "True, ever true," muttered the youth, with half-closed lids.

British Dictionary definitions for half-closed

half-closed

adjective
  1. partially closedwith half-closed eyes

closed

adjective
  1. blocked against entry; shut
  2. restricted; exclusive
  3. not open to question or debate
  4. (of a hunting season, etc) close
  5. maths
    1. (of a curve or surface) completely enclosing an area or volume
    2. (of a set) having members that can be produced by a specific operation on other members of the same setthe integers are a closed set under multiplication
  6. Also: checked phonetics
    1. denoting a syllable that ends in a consonant
    2. another word for close 1 (def. 21)
  7. not open to public entry or membershipthe closed society of publishing
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for half-closed

closed

adj.

c.1200, past participle adjective from close (v.). Closed circuit is attested from 1827; closed shop in union sense from 1904; closed system first recorded 1896 in William James.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper