closed

American  

[klohzd] / kloʊzd /

adjective

1. having or forming a boundary or barrier.

   He was blocked by a closed door.

   The house had a closed porch.

2. brought to a close; concluded.

   It was a closed incident with no repercussions.

3. not public; restricted; exclusive.

   a closed meeting;

   a closed bid at a private auction.

4. not open to new ideas or arguments.

5. self-contained; independent or self-sufficient.

   a closed, symbiotic relationship.

6. Phonetics. (of a syllable) ending with a consonant or a consonant cluster, as has, hasp.

7. Linguistics. (of a class of items) limited in membership and not readily expanded to include new items, as the class of inflectional affixes, articles, pronouns, or auxiliaries (open, ).

8. Hunting, Angling. restricted as to the kind of game that may be legally taken and as to where or when it may be taken.

   woods closed to deer hunters.

9. Mathematics.

   1. (of a set in which a combining operation between members of the set is defined) such that performing the operation between members of the set produces a member of the set, as multiplication in the set of integers.

   2. (of an interval) containing both of its endpoints.

   3. (of a map from one topological space to another) having the property that the image of a closed set is a closed set.

   4. (of a curve) not having endpoints; enclosing an area.

   5. (of a surface) enclosing a volume.

   6. (of a function or operator) having as its graph a closed set.

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closed British  

/ kləʊzd /

adjective

1. blocked against entry; shut

2. restricted; exclusive

3. not open to question or debate

4. (of a hunting season, etc) close

5. maths

   1. (of a curve or surface) completely enclosing an area or volume

   2. (of a set) having members that can be produced by a specific operation on other members of the same set

      the integers are a closed set under multiplication

6. Also: checked.  phonetics

   1. denoting a syllable that ends in a consonant

   2. another word for close 1

7. not open to public entry or membership

   the closed society of publishing

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Other Word Forms

• half-closed adjective
• semiclosed adjective
• well-closed adjective

Etymology

Origin of closed

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English; close, -ed ²

Explanation

If something's closed, it's shut or sealed. When your brother's bedroom door is closed, you'd better knock; if the library's closed, you'll have to come back tomorrow to check out some books. Things that are closed aren't open. People sleep with their eyes closed, and your neighborhood bookstore might be closed on Sundays. Things can be figuratively closed too: if you have a closed mind, you're not willing to consider new ideas or perspectives. The word closed comes from the Old French verb clore, "to shut" or "to cut off from," with its Latin root claudere, "to block up or make inaccessible."

Example Sentences

Brent crude closed Monday at $99.36 a barrel as the U.S. began a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 14, 2026

The district’s focus in recent days has been bifurcated: Continue negotiating to avoid a strike, while making contingency plans in case schools are closed Tuesday.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 13, 2026

The last two weeks have seen back-to-back 6% weekly gains, both of which closed at the weekly range’s high.

From Barron's • Apr. 13, 2026

The Board of Education begins a closed session at 10 a.m. at district headquarters, just west of downtown.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 13, 2026

She pulls my door closed and a feeling of panic rises in me again.

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam

Related Words

• concluded
• decided
• ended
• resolved
• settled