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close company

British  
/ kləʊs /

noun

  1. Also called: closed company.  a company under the control of its directors or fewer than five independent participants

"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

Example Sentences

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Everywhere, it seems, Christmas keeps close company with calamity.

From The Wall Street Journal Dec. 19, 2025

McKenzie chased his neat kick through to reclaim the ball and offload to Will Jordan, with the touchline for close company, in one movement.

From BBC Oct. 9, 2023

On docks and decks humans of varied skin shades and breathing one another’s sweat in close company tended whale-boiling caldrons and looked one another in the eye.

From New York Times May 2, 2020

“Basically, we were traveling around in close company with people who were really having a good time and partying and we weren’t,” Becker said in a 2000 interview with The Associated Press.

From Washington Times Sep. 4, 2017

And sadly, his good friend Roulin, who has been keeping close company with him, has been transferred to Marseille.

From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman

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