closed corporation

American

noun

an incorporated business the stock of which is owned by a small group.

closed corporation British

noun

Also: close corporation. a corporation the stock of which is owned by a small number of persons and is rarely traded on the open market

"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

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

closed corporation

When others have tried to board the subsidy liner, "Club 13" has seemed a closed corporation; three applications have been pending before the board for three years or more, with no action.

From Time Magazine Archive

The tycoons, who had run the islands for generations as their closed corporation, fought stubbornly and bitterly.

From Time Magazine Archive

The union has been totally familial, a closed corporation.

From Time Magazine Archive

But last week Marshall Field & Co., following the lead of many another closed corporation, decided to let a portion of its stock pass to the public.

From Time Magazine Archive

Gunnery was a closed corporation, and the gunner himself a guildsman.

From Artillery Through the Ages A Short Illustrated History of Cannon, Emphasizing Types Used in America by Manucy, Albert

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023