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Synonyms

close the door on

Idioms  

  1. Also, shut the door on. End or exclude from consideration, discussion, or action. For example, His lack of qualifications closed the door on further promotions, or Last quarter's poor sales figures have shut the door on any expansion plans.

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.

“It doesn’t close the door on the easing cycle, but it will be stop-start, and the timing of the next move may depend on an improvement in the inflation outlook.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 5, 2026

When looking ahead to this postseason, Friedman did not close the door on that possibility either; even though he said his focus has remained on navigating the final two weeks of the regular season first.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 15, 2025

A review by another fiscal in 2010 seemed to close the door on the case, telling Fiona: "There is no realistic prospect of us being able to take any action at any time."

From BBC • Jun. 25, 2025

Felix, which could be decided any day, may close the door on the postmortem reckoning, leaving the Constitution as a distant echo.

From Slate • Apr. 15, 2025

They hurried to close the door on the real Mafalda; Harry and Ron threw the Invisibility Cloak over themselves but Hermione remained in view, waiting.

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.