close down
Britishverb
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to cease or cause to cease operations
the shop closed down
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(tr) sport to mark or move towards (an opposing player) in order to prevent him or her running with the ball or making or receiving a pass
noun
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a closure or stoppage of operations, esp in a factory
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radio television the end of a period of broadcasting, esp late at night
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Also, close one's doors ; shut down . Go out of business, end operations. For example, If the rent goes up we'll have to close down , or After fifty years in business the store finally closed its doors , or The warehouse had a clearance sale the month before it shut down for good . Also see close up , def. 2.
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Force someone to go out of business, as in The police raided the porn shop and closed it down . Both usages date from the early 1900s, but shut down was first recorded in 1877.
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.
Greenfield Book Store, a mainstay of the city's independent bookshop scene since it opened in 1976, said it would close down when its rental contract ends.
From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026
That stock’s forward P/E declined to 14.1 as of Monday’s close, down from 25.3 at the end of last year and from this year’s peak forward P/E of 30.9 on June 1.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 28, 2026
In 2015, a battery recycling plant that had been operating in Vernon for decades had to close down and pay $50 million toward cleaning up its hazardous wastes such as lead dust, cadmium and arsenic.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
Treasury had sought to close down the money-transfer networks it said Iran had used to funnel money to its proxy forces in Gaza and Lebanon.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
“Baloney! They can’t close down a town,” Pork Chop said with a scowl.
From Full of Beans by Jennifer L. Holm
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
