closure

[ kloh-zher ]

noun

1. the act of closing; the state of being closed.
2. a bringing to an end; conclusion.
3. something that closes or shuts.
4. closer ¹( def 5 ).
5. an architectural screen or parapet, especially one standing free between columns or piers.
6. Phonetics. an occlusion of the vocal tract as an articulatory feature of a particular speech sound. Compare constriction ( def 5 ).
7. Parliamentary Procedure. a cloture.
8. Surveying. completion of a closed traverse in such a way that the point of origin and the endpoint coincide within an acceptably small margin of error. Compare error of closure.
9. Mathematics.
   1. the property of being closed with respect to a particular operation.
   2. the intersection of all closed sets that contain a given set.
10. Psychology.
    1. the tendency to see an entire figure even though the picture of it is incomplete, based primarily on the viewer's past experience.
    2. a sense of psychological certainty or completeness:

       a need for closure.

11. Obsolete. something that encloses or shuts in; enclosure.

verb (used with or without object)

, clo·sured, clo·sur·ing.

1. Parliamentary Procedure. to cloture.

closure

/ ˈkləʊʒə /

noun

1. the act of closing or the state of being closed
2. an end or conclusion
3. something that closes or shuts, such as a cap or seal for a container
4. (in a deliberative body) a procedure by which debate may be halted and an immediate vote taken See also cloture guillotine gag rule
5. 1. the resolution of a significant event or relationship in a person's life
   2. a sense of contentment experienced after such a resolution
6. geology the vertical distance between the crest of an anticline and the lowest contour that surrounds it
7. phonetics the obstruction of the breath stream at some point along the vocal tract, such as the complete occlusion preliminary to the articulation of a stop
8. logic
   1. the closed sentence formed from a given open sentence by prefixing universal or existential quantifiers to bind all its free variables
   2. the process of forming such a closed sentence
9. maths
   1. the smallest closed set containing a given set
   2. the operation of forming such a set
10. psychol the tendency, first noted by Gestalt psychologists, to see an incomplete figure like a circle with a gap in it as more complete than it is

verb

1. tr (in a deliberative body) to end (debate) by closure

Other Words From

• non·closure noun
• pre·closure noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of closure¹

1350–1400; Middle English < Middle French < Latin clausūra. See close, -ure

Word History and Origins

Origin of closure¹

C14: from Old French, from Late Latin clausūra bar, from Latin claudere to close

Example Sentences

They include the closure of the Māori Health Authority, which was set up under Jacinda Ardern's Labour government to help create health equity, and reprioritising English over Māori when it comes to the official naming of government organisations, for example.

From BBC

“The children have spent their whole lives not knowing what happened to their fathers, and for me to be able to do this work and bring them here to their graves, to say their goodbyes and have that closure, means everything”, she says.

From BBC

It does make for a nice moment of closure.

From Los Angeles Times

Access was also reduced owing to closure of areas by Israeli security forces, delays in coordination of safe routes, checkpoints, searches or destruction of roads.

From Salon

She said its closure was "terribly sad".

From BBC

Related Words

• closing
• stoppage
• termination