close down
Britishverb
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to cease or cause to cease operations
the shop closed down
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(tr) sport to mark or move towards (an opposing player) in order to prevent him or her running with the ball or making or receiving a pass
noun
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a closure or stoppage of operations, esp in a factory
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radio television the end of a period of broadcasting, esp late at night
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Also, close one's doors ; shut down . Go out of business, end operations. For example, If the rent goes up we'll have to close down , or After fifty years in business the store finally closed its doors , or The warehouse had a clearance sale the month before it shut down for good . Also see close up , def. 2.
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Force someone to go out of business, as in The police raided the porn shop and closed it down . Both usages date from the early 1900s, but shut down was first recorded in 1877.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
That’s when authorities had the power to close down businesses, schools, and most traffic — but pretty much didn’t.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026
“Since my decision to close down the fund and to return outside capital…” Hmm.
From Barron's • Mar. 12, 2026
And it has kept moving to new areas in Myanmar, even as the more prominent scam complexes like KK Park and Shwe Kokko, on the Thai-Myanmar border, have been forced to close down.
From BBC • Jan. 29, 2026
“We haven’t had any clients close down and pack up to the U.S.,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 27, 2025
It was a huge effort now to close down the visions that were forcing themselves upon him, but he knew that he would have to resist only a little longer.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
