seal off

Idioms  

1. Also, seal up. Close tightly or barricade to prevent entry or exit. For example, We're sealing off the unused wing of the building, or The jar is tightly sealed up. Dating from the first half of the 1900s, this idiom uses seal in the sense of “close securely,” as one used to do with a seal of wax.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

seal off

The tranquil and picturesque location is hard to access, with water on three sides, and is therefore easy to seal off for major events.

From Barron's ● Jun. 21, 2026

Schmidt said a proposed alternative had been to allow Deltopia to continue but to seal off Isla Vista to prevent out of towners from entering by using roadblocks and checkpoints.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 18, 2026

And it exposes something deeper about how the law handles its most final punishment: its willingness to seal off inquiry precisely when the stakes are highest.

From Slate ● Jun. 26, 2025

The first involved using the ink to seal off a section in a goat's heart.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 7, 2023

If one loses pressure, the other will instantly seal off the shared lines.

From "The Martian" by Andy Weir

Related Words

• circle
• enclose
• surround