close-up

American  

[klohs-uhp] / ˈkloʊsˌʌp /

Or closeup

noun

1. a photograph taken at close range or with a long focal-length lens, on a relatively large scale.

2. Also called close shot.  Movies, Television. a camera shot taken at a very short distance from the subject, to permit a close and detailed view of an object or action.

3. an intimate view or presentation of anything.

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adjective

1. of or resembling a close-up.

2. intimate or detailed; close-in.

close-up British  

/ ˈkləʊsˌʌp /

noun

1. a photograph or film or television shot taken at close range

2. a detailed or intimate view or examination

   a close-up of modern society

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verb

1. to shut entirely

2. (intr) to draw together

   the ranks closed up

3. (intr) (of wounds) to heal completely

close up Idioms  

1. Also, close up shop. Stop doing business, temporarily or permanently; also, stop working. For example, The bank is closing up all its overseas branches, or That's enough work for one day—I'm closing up shop and going home. [Late 1500s]

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Etymology

Origin of close-up

An Americanism first recorded in 1910–15; noun use of adverbial phrase close up

Example Sentences

I concentrated on close-up portraits, letting Fishburne’s intense expressions and moments of exuberant laughter bring the images to life.

From Los Angeles Times

“Her close-up at the end, we can see the whole world reflecting in her eyes and see all these emotions,” says the cinematographer.

From Los Angeles Times

He shifts effortlessly between bird’s-eye panoramas of battles and empires and close-up historical family dramas or images of himself rumbling along in a truck on dirt roads to visit the sites where things happened.

From The Wall Street Journal

Ben Hania’s insistence on close-up melodramatics — faces in anguish, a handheld camera glued to them — sometimes overshadows a thirst for something more analytical.

From Los Angeles Times

The film cuts between shallow-focus shots of each character’s face, hinting at the haze of uncertainty, before we see a close-up of Maggie’s hands dancing to her thoughts: “Because women are penalized for speaking out, I shouldn’t? That’s your logic? And then what? He just gets to get away with it?”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• attitude
• concept
• consideration
• feeling
• impression
• judgment
• mind
• notion
• opinion
• point of view
• sentiment
• thought