Close vs Almost - What's the difference?
close | almost |
(label) To remove a gap.
# To obstruct (an opening).
# To move so that an opening is closed.
#* (Lord Byron) (1788-1824)
#*
#*:If I close my eyes I can see Marie today as I saw her then. Round, rosy face, snub nose, dark hair piled up in a chignon.
# To make (e.g. a gap) smaller.
# To grapple; to engage in close combat.
#* (1796-1859)
(label) To finish, to terminate.
# To put an end to; to conclude; to complete; to finish; to consummate.
#* (John Dryden) (1631-1700)
# To come to an end.
# (label) To make a sale.
# To make the final outs, usually three, of a game.
# To terminate an application, window, file or database connection, etc.
To come or gather around; to enclose; to encompass; to confine.
* Bible, (w) ii. 5
* (George Herbert) (1593-1633)
(label) To have a vector sum of 0; that is, to form a closed polygon.
An end or conclusion.
* Macaulay
The manner of shutting; the union of parts; junction.
* Chapman
A grapple in wrestling.
(music) The conclusion of a strain of music; cadence.
* Dryden
(music) A double bar marking the end.
Closed, shut.
* 1526 , William Tyndale, trans. Bible , Matthew chapter 8:
* Dryden
Narrow; confined.
* Charles Dickens
At a little distance; near.
* , chapter=7
, title= * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-01, volume=407, issue=8838, page=71, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= Intimate; well-loved.
# (legal) Of a corporation or other business entity, closely held.
Oppressive; without motion or ventilation; causing a feeling of lassitude.
* Francis Bacon
Hot, humid, with no wind.
(linguistics, phonetics, of a vowel) Articulated with the tongue body relatively close to the hard palate.
Strictly confined; carefully guarded.
(obsolete) Out of the way of observation; secluded; secret; hidden.
* Bible, 1 Chron. xii. 1
* Spenser
Nearly equal; almost evenly balanced.
Short.
(archaic) Dense; solid; compact.
* John Locke
(archaic) Concise; to the point.
* Dryden
(dated) Difficult to obtain.
(dated) Parsimonious; stingy.
* Hawthorne
Adhering strictly to a standard or original; exact.
Accurate; careful; precise; also, attentive; undeviating; strict.
An enclosed field.
(British) A street that ends in a dead end.
(Scotland) A very narrow alley between two buildings, often overhung by one of the buildings above the ground floor.
(Scotland) The common staircase in a tenement.
A cathedral close.
* Macaulay
(legal) The interest which one may have in a piece of ground, even though it is not enclosed.
Very close to, but not quite.
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5
, passage=Although the Celebrity was almost impervious to sarcasm, he was now beginning to exhibit visible signs of uneasiness, the consciousness dawning upon him that his eccentricity was not receiving the ovation it merited.}}
* , chapter=17
, title= * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
, chapter=9 * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-05-17, author=George Monbiot, authorlink=George Monbiot
, title=Money just makes the rich suffer
, volume=188, issue=23, page=19, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
(informal) Something or someone that doesn't quite make it.
As nouns the difference between close and almost
is that close is an end or conclusion while almost is something or someone that doesn't quite make it.As a verb close
is to remove a gap.As an adjective close
is closed, shut.As an adverb almost is
very close to, but not quite.close
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) .Verb
(clos)- What deep wounds ever closed without a scar?
- They boldly closed in a hand-to-hand contest.
- One frugal supper did our studies close .
- The depth closed me round about.
- But now Thou dost Thyself immure and close / In some one corner of a feeble heart; / Where yet both Sinne and Satan, Thy old foes, / Do pinch and straiten Thee, and use much art / To gain Thy thirds' and little part.
Synonyms
* close off, close up, cover, shut, shut off * shut * (put an end to) end, finish, terminate, wind up, close down * narrow * (terminate a computer program) close out, exitAntonyms
* open * open * (put an end to) begin, commence, initiate, start * extend, widen * (terminate a computer program) open, startDerived terms
* autoclosing * case closed * close down * close in * close off * close one's eyes * close out * close ranks * close the door on * close the face * close up *Noun
(en noun)- We owe them our thanks for bringing the project to a successful close .
- His long and troubled life was drawing to a close .
- The doors of plank were; their close exquisite.
- (Francis Bacon)
- At every close she made, the attending throng / Replied, and bore the burden of the song.
Synonyms
* (end) end, finaleAntonyms
* (end) beginning, startEtymology 2
From (etyl) clos, from (etyl) clausum, participle of (m).Adjective
(er)- There is nothinge so close , that shall not be openned, and nothinge so hyd that shall not be knowen.
- From a close bower this dainty music flowed.
- a close''' alley; '''close quarters
- a close prison
The Mirror and the Lamp, passage=[…] St.?Bede's at this period of its history was perhaps the poorest and most miserable parish in the East End of London. Close -packed, crushed by the buttressed height of the railway viaduct, rendered airless by huge walls of factories, it at once banished lively interest from a stranger's mind and left only a dull oppression of the spirit.}}
End of the peer show, passage=Finance is seldom romantic. But the idea of peer-to-peer lending comes close . This is an industry that brings together individual savers and lenders on online platforms. Those that want to borrow are matched with those that want to lend.}}
- If the rooms be low-roofed, or full of windows and doors, the one maketh the air close , and the other maketh it exceeding unequal.
- a close prisoner
- He yet kept himself close because of Saul.
- her close intent
- a close contest
- to cut grass or hair close
- The golden globe being put into a press, the water made itself way through the pores of that very close metal.
- close reasoning
- Where the original is close no version can reach it in the same compass.
- Money is close .
- (Bartlett)
- a crusty old fellow, as close as a vice
- a close translation
- (John Locke)
- The patient was kept under close observation.
Synonyms
* (at a little distance) close by, near, nearby * (intimate) intimate * muggy, oppressive * (articulated with the tongue body relatively close to the hard palate) highAntonyms
* (at a little distance) distant, far, far away, far off, remote * (intimate) aloof, cool, distant * (articulated with the tongue body relatively close to the hard palate) openDerived terms
* close call * closely * closeness * close shave * close-up * thiscloseNoun
(en noun)- closes surrounded by the venerable abodes of deans and canons.
- (Bouvier)
Synonyms
* (street) cul-de-sacStatistics
*almost
English
Alternative forms
* (Jamaican English)Adverb
(-)- Almost all people went there. - Not all but very close to it.
- We almost missed the train. - Not missed but very close to it.
The Mirror and the Lamp, passage=This time was most dreadful for Lilian. Thrown on her own resources and almost penniless, she maintained herself and paid the rent of a wretched room near the hospital by working as a charwoman, sempstress, anything. In a moment she had dropped to the level of a casual labourer.}}
citation, passage=Eustace gaped at him in amazement. When his urbanity dropped away from him, as now, he had an innocence of expression which was almost infantile. It was as if the world had never touched him at all.}}
citation, passage=In order to grant the rich these pleasures, the social contract is reconfigured. […] The public realm is privatised, the regulations restraining the ultra–wealthy and the companies they control are abandoned, and Edwardian levels of inequality are almost fetishised.}}
Synonyms
* nearly, nigh, well-nigh, near, close to, next to, practically, virtuallyNoun
(en noun)- In all the submissions, they found four papers that were clearly worth publishing and another dozen almosts .