seal off

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.

Example Sentences

A major street has been partly sealed off in Glasgow city centre after a fire broke out in a six-storey commercial building.

Read more on BBC

A large area had been sealed off with police tape in the roads surrounding the house.

Read more on BBC

Local media reported that an underpass in the area was sealed off.

Read more on BBC

Researchers could now study a part of the seabed that had been completely sealed off until the ice broke away, providing a real-time look at how the region was responding to environmental change.

Read more on Science Daily

As long as this density layering remains strong, the CO2-rich deep water stays sealed off.

Read more on Science Daily

Related Words

• circle 
• enclose 
• surround