closure

American  

[kloh-zher] / ˈkloʊ ʒər /

noun

closures plural

1. the act of closing; the state of being closed.

2. a bringing to an end; conclusion.

3. something that closes or shuts.

4. closer.

5. an architectural screen or parapet, especially one standing free between columns or piers.

6. Phonetics. an occlusion of the vocal tract as an articulatory feature of a particular speech sound.

7. Parliamentary Procedure. a cloture.

8. Surveying. completion of a closed traverse in such a way that the point of origin and the endpoint coincide within an acceptably small margin of error.

9. Mathematics.

   1. the property of being closed with respect to a particular operation.

   2. the intersection of all closed sets that contain a given set.

10. Psychology.

    1. the tendency to see an entire figure even though the picture of it is incomplete, based primarily on the viewer's past experience.

    2. a sense of psychological certainty or completeness.

       a need for closure.

11. Obsolete. something that encloses or shuts in; enclosure.

---

verb (used with or without object)

closured, closuring

1. Parliamentary Procedure. to cloture.

closure British  

/ ˈkləʊʒə /

noun

1. the act of closing or the state of being closed

2. an end or conclusion

3. something that closes or shuts, such as a cap or seal for a container

4. (in a deliberative body) a procedure by which debate may be halted and an immediate vote taken See also cloture guillotine gag rule

5. 1. the resolution of a significant event or relationship in a person's life

   2. a sense of contentment experienced after such a resolution

6. geology the vertical distance between the crest of an anticline and the lowest contour that surrounds it

7. phonetics the obstruction of the breath stream at some point along the vocal tract, such as the complete occlusion preliminary to the articulation of a stop

8. logic

   1. the closed sentence formed from a given open sentence by prefixing universal or existential quantifiers to bind all its free variables

   2. the process of forming such a closed sentence

9. maths

   1. the smallest closed set containing a given set

   2. the operation of forming such a set

10. psychol the tendency, first noted by Gestalt psychologists, to see an incomplete figure like a circle with a gap in it as more complete than it is

---

verb

1. (tr) (in a deliberative body) to end (debate) by closure

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonclosure
  noun
• preclosure
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• closures
  plural

Etymology

Origin of closure

1350–1400; Middle English < Middle French < Latin clausūra. See close, -ure

Explanation

Closure is the end or the closing down of something. It can be physical — like the closure of your local library — or emotional, like the closure you experience when you finally come to terms with the end of a romance. Closure comes from the Latin claus ("shut"), and it has many different shades of meaning. A road closure blocks that road from traffic. If you find closure after an emotional hardship, you're ready to move on. An obstruction in a small passage, like a pipe, is also a closure, as is the button on your sweater. In debate, closure (usually cloture), stops debate and starts the vote.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

closure closures closured

The sharp pullback comes despite the virtual closure of the Strait of Hormuz and Houthi threats against Saudi ships in the Red Sea keeping oil flows out of the Gulf region to a trickle.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026

Twenty-eight jobs are at risk at the Jodrell Bank site in Cheshire, but its closure would also affect the work of nearly 3,000 scientists who use it in their research.

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

“We hope these findings provide them with some measure of peace and closure after several difficult months.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026

“This has been an alternative route through which Saudi Arabia has exported oil since the closure of the Strait of Hormuz,” they add.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

Similarly, a musical answer should also contain part of the question, plus have a sense of closure or finality.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin

Leveraged ETFs and their siblings, inverse funds, are risky, and their frenzied proliferation that kicked into overdrive 2025 may be overshadowing their big jump in closures this year.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026

Daniel Day's actions triggered an emergency service response and caused road closures when he scaled the Elizabeth Tower in Westminster on 8 March 2025 causing "serious disruption".

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

Labour representatives and the German state of Lower Saxony, who both take a dim view of plant closures, together hold more than half the seats on the supervisory board.

From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026

Countries including Sweden and Chile underwent mega-expansions of their padel facilities only to experience mass closures after a few years.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

A list of school district closures scrolls across the bottom of the screen.

From "The Sea in Winter" by Christine Day

Theatres are facing lower sales from the cost-of-living crisis only a year after most re-opened following closured prompted by Covid lockdowns.

From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2022

Bad enough to have Members working off at public meetings speeches that had been closured in Commons.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 104, April 8, 1893 by Burnand, F. C. (Francis Cowley), Sir

The qualifying adjective 'good' is dangerous, and before the time for the bill was half expired, Bozzy has closured it and the amendment.

From James Boswell Famous Scots Series by Leask, W. Keith (William Keith)

After another fight, the Government closured through an Appropriation Bill covering Supply for ten weeks, and the House was dissolved on 31st August, the election being fixed for 2nd October.

From Our First Half-Century: A Review of Queensland Progress Based Upon Official Information by Queensland

A further list of closured stations Elicits further protestations.

From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 152, January 10, 1917 by Various

Related Words

• closing
• stoppage
• termination