closure

[kloh-zher]

noun

1. the act of closing; the state of being closed.

2. a bringing to an end; conclusion.

3. something that closes or shuts.

4. closer.

5. an architectural screen or parapet, especially one standing free between columns or piers.

6. Phonetics.,  an occlusion of the vocal tract as an articulatory feature of a particular speech sound.

7. Parliamentary Procedure.,  a cloture.

8. Surveying.,  completion of a closed traverse in such a way that the point of origin and the endpoint coincide within an acceptably small margin of error.

9. Mathematics.

   1. the property of being closed with respect to a particular operation.

   2. the intersection of all closed sets that contain a given set.

10. Psychology.

    1. the tendency to see an entire figure even though the picture of it is incomplete, based primarily on the viewer's past experience.

    2. a sense of psychological certainty or completeness.

       a need for closure.

11. Obsolete.,  something that encloses or shuts in; enclosure.

verb (used with or without object)

closured, closuring 

1. Parliamentary Procedure.,  to cloture.

closure

/ ˈkləʊʒə /

noun

1. the act of closing or the state of being closed

2. an end or conclusion

3. something that closes or shuts, such as a cap or seal for a container

4. (in a deliberative body) a procedure by which debate may be halted and an immediate vote taken See also cloture guillotine gag rule

5. 1. the resolution of a significant event or relationship in a person's life

   2. a sense of contentment experienced after such a resolution

6. geology the vertical distance between the crest of an anticline and the lowest contour that surrounds it

7. phonetics the obstruction of the breath stream at some point along the vocal tract, such as the complete occlusion preliminary to the articulation of a stop

8. logic

   1. the closed sentence formed from a given open sentence by prefixing universal or existential quantifiers to bind all its free variables

   2. the process of forming such a closed sentence

9. maths

   1. the smallest closed set containing a given set

   2. the operation of forming such a set

10. psychol the tendency, first noted by Gestalt psychologists, to see an incomplete figure like a circle with a gap in it as more complete than it is

verb

1. (tr) (in a deliberative body) to end (debate) by closure

Other Word Forms

• nonclosure noun
• preclosure noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of closure¹

1350–1400; Middle English < Middle French < Latin clausūra. See close, -ure

Word History and Origins

Origin of closure¹

C14: from Old French, from Late Latin clausūra bar, from Latin claudere to close

Example Sentences

"I think they just need closure of some description," he said.

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Kamron Zar, another resident, said the identification might help to bring some “closure” to the Palisades community for the time being.

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Drones of unclear origin caused the closure of Danish airports and airspace in September.

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Serious safety concerns over the Menai Suspension Bridge were first identified in 2022, leading to the sudden closure of the bridge for four months.

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Stephen Savigar, from Newport, had also made the trip to visit for a final time before the closure.

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Related Words

• closing 
• stoppage 
• termination