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• closed-door
  closed-door

  adjective

  held in strict privacy; not open to the press or the public.
• closed door
  closed door

  An obstacle or restriction, as in There are no closed doors in the new field of gene therapy . [First half of 1900s]

closed-door

American  

[klohzd-dawr, -dohr] / ˈkloʊzdˈdɔr, -ˈdoʊr /

adjective

1. held in strict privacy; not open to the press or the public.

   a closed-door strategy meeting of banking executives.

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closed-door British  

adjective

1. private; barred to members of the public

   a closed-door meeting

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closed door Idioms  

1. An obstacle or restriction, as in There are no closed doors in the new field of gene therapy . [First half of 1900s]

2. close one's doors . See close down . Also see behind closed doors ; close the door .

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Etymology

Origin of closed-door

First recorded in 1930–35

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

closed-door closed door

Gao's case was heard in a one-day, closed-door trial earlier this year, which received limited coverage in China.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

On July 30, the 15 members of the Security Council are due to hold their first closed-door, anonymous vote on their preferences among the candidates.

From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026

Homelessness went up by 3.4% across the city compared to the previous year, according to two people familiar with the numbers presented by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority in closed-door briefings.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026

The Wall Street Journal spoke to heads of government, their ministers and top aides to reconstruct the closed-door meetings where the alliance began to splinter.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026

Ann secretly took notes and fed the information to Fuller and others, who used it to challenge the city about these closed-door hearings.

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson

But mysticism also holds sway behind the closed door of politics.

From Barron's ● Dec. 21, 2025

"Publishing, it can feel like a closed door sometimes and it's hard to know who you need to speak to, what it is you actually need, how you get an agent," the 39-year-old said.

From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2025

The mayor, along with four council members and other city officials, heard presentations from three firms at a closed door meeting last week.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 7, 2025

We can never know what’s happening behind a closed door, and we can never assume that someone is safe simply because of their generation, their job or their public persona.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 3, 2024

Which can only mean we’re headed for the always closed door at the end of the hall on the right.

From "Fast Pitch" by Nic Stone