Adjacent Words

close in definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: advance or converge on; "The police were closing in on him" [syn: close in, draw in]
2: surround completely; "Darkness enclosed him"; "They closed in the porch with a fence" [syn: enclose, close in, inclose, shut in]

Merriam Webster's

verb Date: 14th century transitive verb 1. to encircle closely and isolate 2. to enshroud to such an extent as to preclude entrance or exit <the airport was closed in by the storm> intransitive verb 1. to gather in close all around with an oppressing or isolating effect <despair closed in on her> 2. to approach to close quarters especially for an attack, raid, or arrest <the police closed in> 3. to grow dark <the short November day was already closing in — Ellen Glasgow>

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. If a group of people close in on a person or place, they come nearer and nearer to them and gradually surround them. Hitler himself committed suicide as Soviet forces were closing in on Berlin... As Parretti walked across the tarmac, fraud officers closed in. = move in PHRASAL VERB: V P on n, V P 2. When winter or darkness closes in, it arrives. The dark nights and cold weather are closing in. = descend PHRASAL VERB: V P

Moby Thesaurus

accost, advance, approach, appropinquate, approximate, bear down on, bear down upon, bear up, beleaguer, beset, besiege, blockade, bound, box in, cage, center, centralize, chamber, close, close up, close with, come, come closer, come forward, come near, come on, come together, come up, compass, concenter, concentralize, concentrate, confront, contain, converge, coop, coop in, coop up, cordon, cordon off, corral, draw near, draw nigh, encircle, enclose, encompass, encounter, enshrine, envelop, fall in with, fence, fence in, funnel, gain upon, hedge, hedge in, hem, hem in, house in, immure, impound, imprison, incarcerate, include, intersect, jail, kennel, leaguer, meet, mew, mew up, narrow the gap, near, nip, pen, pen in, pinch, pocket, proximate, quarantine, rail in, run together, shrine, shut in, shut up, sidle up to, stable, step up, surround, taper, unite, wall in, wrap, yard, yard up