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

As anyone who has tried to hold Europe in the board game Risk can attest, the continent is geographically harder to seal off than North America or Australia.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

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

Others questioned whether the Forest Service has the means to enforce such a closure — it’s pretty difficult to physically seal off a mountain.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 10, 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

And then we’ll seal off all entrances to the cave as if it had never existed.”

From "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH" by Robert C. O'Brien

Related Words

• circle
• enclose
• surround