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close company

British  
/ kləʊs /

noun

  1. Also called: closed company.  a company under the control of its directors or fewer than five independent participants

"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

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Everywhere, it seems, Christmas keeps close company with calamity.

From The Wall Street Journal Dec. 19, 2025

McKenzie chased his neat kick through to reclaim the ball and offload to Will Jordan, with the touchline for close company, in one movement.

From BBC Oct. 9, 2023

I spent the better part of a decade in the close company of that fascinating, vexing man, dead some 200 years yet far more alive to me than most of my neighbors.

From New York Times Feb. 28, 2018

“Basically, we were traveling around in close company with people who were really having a good time and partying and we weren’t,” Becker said in a 2000 interview with The Associated Press.

From Washington Times Sep. 4, 2017

Although I was no longer in love with the Captain, I did not wish to be thrown in such close company with him again—just the two of us.

From "Jacob Have I Loved" by Katherine Paterson

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