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Free vs Close - What's the difference?

free | close |

In label|en|social terms the difference between free and close

is that free is (label) unconstrained while close is (label) to finish, to terminate.

In label|en|physical terms the difference between free and close

is that free is (label) unconstrained while close is (label) to remove a gap.

In obsolete|lang=en terms the difference between free and close

is that free is (obsolete) freely; willingly while close is (obsolete) out of the way of observation; secluded; secret; hidden.

As adjectives the difference between free and close

is that free is (label) unconstrained while close is closed, shut.

As verbs the difference between free and close

is that free is to make free; set at liberty; release; rid of that which confines, limits, embarrasses, or oppresses while close is (label) to remove a gap.

As nouns the difference between free and close

is that free is (australian rules football|gaelic football) abbreviation of free kick while close is an end or conclusion or close can be an enclosed field.

As an adverb free

is without needing to pay.

free

English

Adjective

(er)
  • (label) Unconstrained.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1899, author=(Stephen Crane)
  • , title=, chapter=1 , passage=There was some laughter, and Roddle was left free to expand his ideas on the periodic visits of cowboys to the town. “Mason Rickets, he had ten big punkins a-sittin' in front of his store, an' them fellers from the Upside-down-F ranch shot 'em up […].”}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-10, volume=408, issue=8848, magazine=(The Economist), author=Schumpeter
  • , title=[http://www.economist.com/news/business/21583242-businesspeople-have-become-too-influential-government-cronies-and-capitols Cronies and capitols] , passage=Policing the relationship between government and business in a free society is difficult. Businesspeople have every right to lobby governments, and civil servants to take jobs in the private sector.}}
  • # Not imprisoned or enslaved.
  • # Unconstrained by timidity or distrust; unreserved; frank; communicative.
  • #* Milward
  • He was free only with a few.
  • # Generous; liberal.
  • # (label) Clear of offence or crime; guiltless; innocent.
  • #* (John Dryden) (1631-1700)
  • My hands are guilty, but my heart is free .
  • # Without obligations.
  • # Thrown open, or made accessible, to all; to be enjoyed without limitations; unrestricted; not obstructed, engrossed, or appropriated; open; said of a thing to be possessed or enjoyed.
  • #* (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • Why, sir, I pray, are not the streets as free / For me as for you?
  • # Not arbitrary or despotic; assuring liberty; defending individual rights against encroachment by any person or class; instituted by a free people; said of a government, institutions, etc.
  • # (label) With no or only freedom-preserving limitations on distribution or modification.
  • # (label) Intended for release, as opposed to a checked version.
  • Obtainable without any payment.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title=[http://www.economist.com/news/http://www.economist.com/news/business/21582001-army-new-online-courses-scaring-wits-out-traditional-universities-can-they The attack of the MOOCs] , passage=Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete.}}
  • # Obtainable without additional payment, as a bonus given when paying for something else.
  • (label) Unconstrained.
  • # (label) Unconstrained by relators.
  • # Unconstrained by quantifiers.
  • # (label) Of identifiers, not bound.
  • # That can be used by itself, unattached to another morpheme.
  • (label) Unconstrained.
  • # Unobstructed, without blockages.
  • # Unattached or uncombined.
  • # Not currently in use; not taken; unoccupied.
  • # Not attached; loose.
  • #*
  • Furthermore, the free anterior margin of the lobule is arched toward the lobe and is often involute
  • Without; not containing (what is specified); exempt; clear; liberated.
  • * (w) (1635?-1715)
  • princes declaring themselves free from the obligations of their treaties
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4 , passage=One morning I had been driven to the precarious refuge afforded by the steps of the inn, after rejecting offers from the Celebrity to join him in a variety of amusements. But even here I was not free from interruption, for he was seated on a horse-block below me, playing with a fox terrier.}}
  • (label) Ready; eager; acting without spurring or whipping; spirited.
  • (label) Invested with a particular freedom or franchise; enjoying certain immunities or privileges; admitted to special rights; followed by of .
  • * (John Dryden) (1631-1700)
  • He therefore makes all birds, of every sect, / Free of his farm.
  • Certain or honourable; the opposite of base .
  • (Burrill)
  • (label) Privileged or individual; the opposite of common .
  • (Burrill)

    Synonyms

    * (obtainable without payment) free of charge, gratis * (unconstrained) unconstrained, unfettered, unhindered * (unobstructed) clear, unobstructed * libre * (without) without * unbound

    Antonyms

    * (not imprisoned or enslaved) bound, enslaved, imprisoned * (unconstrained) constrained, restricted * bound * (unobstructed) blocked, obstructed * bound * proprietary software

    Derived terms

    * -free * free Abelian group, free abelian group * free algebra * free and clear * free and easy * free as a bird * freeball * freebooter * free fall * free group * freelance * freeloader * free lunch * freely * free market * free marketeer * Freemason * free module * free object * free of charge * free rein * free ride * free rider * free semigroup * free speech * free spirit * free-spoken * free-thinker * free time * free variable * free vote * freeware * freeway * freewheel * free will * unfree

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • Without needing to pay.
  • I got this bike free .
  • (obsolete) Freely; willingly.
  • * Shakespeare
  • I as free forgive you / As I would be forgiven.

    Synonyms

    * for free, for nothing

    Verb

    (d)
  • To make free; set at liberty; release; rid of that which confines, limits, embarrasses, or oppresses.
  • Hyponyms

    * emancipate * liberate * manumit * release * unchain * unfetter

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (Australian rules football, Gaelic football) Abbreviation of free kick.
  • * 2006 , [http://footballlegends.org/daryn_cresswell.htm]:
  • Whether deserved or not, the free' gave Cresswell the chance to cover himself in glory with a shot on goal after the siren.
  • free transfer
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2011 , date=September 21 , author=Sam Lyon , title=Man City 2 - 0 Birmingham , work=BBC Sport , url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/14910208.stm , page= , passage=Hargreaves, who left Manchester United on a free during the summer, drilled a 22-yard beauty to open the scoring.}}
  • (hurling) The usual means of restarting play after a foul is committed, where the non-offending team restarts from where the foul was committed.
  • Usage notes

    *

    close

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) .

    Verb

    (clos)
  • (label) To remove a gap.
  • # To obstruct (an opening).
  • # To move so that an opening is closed.
  • #* (Lord Byron) (1788-1824)
  • What deep wounds ever closed without a scar?
  • #*
  • #*: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)
  • They boldly closed in a hand-to-hand contest.
  • (label) To finish, to terminate.
  • # To put an end to; to conclude; to complete; to finish; to consummate.
  • #* (John Dryden) (1631-1700)
  • One frugal supper did our studies close .
  • # 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
  • The depth closed me round about.
  • * (George Herbert) (1593-1633)
  • 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.
  • (label) To have a vector sum of 0; that is, to form a closed polygon.
  • 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, exit
    Antonyms
    * open * open * (put an end to) begin, commence, initiate, start * extend, widen * (terminate a computer program) open, start
    Derived 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)
  • An end or conclusion.
  • We owe them our thanks for bringing the project to a successful close .
  • * Macaulay
  • His long and troubled life was drawing to a close .
  • The manner of shutting; the union of parts; junction.
  • * Chapman
  • The doors of plank were; their close exquisite.
  • A grapple in wrestling.
  • (Francis Bacon)
  • (music) The conclusion of a strain of music; cadence.
  • * Dryden
  • At every close she made, the attending throng / Replied, and bore the burden of the song.
  • (music) A double bar marking the end.
  • Synonyms
    * (end) end, finale
    Antonyms
    * (end) beginning, start

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) clos, from (etyl) clausum, participle of (m).

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Closed, shut.
  • * 1526 , William Tyndale, trans. Bible , Matthew chapter 8:
  • There is nothinge so close , that shall not be openned, and nothinge so hyd that shall not be knowen.
  • * Dryden
  • From a close bower this dainty music flowed.
  • Narrow; confined.
  • a close''' alley; '''close quarters
  • * Charles Dickens
  • a close prison
  • At a little distance; near.
  • * , chapter=7
  • , title= 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.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-01, volume=407, issue=8838, page=71, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= 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.}}
  • 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
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • a close prisoner
  • (obsolete) Out of the way of observation; secluded; secret; hidden.
  • * Bible, 1 Chron. xii. 1
  • He yet kept himself close because of Saul.
  • * Spenser
  • her close intent
  • Nearly equal; almost evenly balanced.
  • a close contest
  • Short.
  • to cut grass or hair close
  • (archaic) Dense; solid; compact.
  • * John Locke
  • The golden globe being put into a press, the water made itself way through the pores of that very close metal.
  • (archaic) Concise; to the point.
  • close reasoning
  • * Dryden
  • Where the original is close no version can reach it in the same compass.
  • (dated) Difficult to obtain.
  • Money is close .
    (Bartlett)
  • (dated) Parsimonious; stingy.
  • * Hawthorne
  • a crusty old fellow, as close as a vice
  • Adhering strictly to a standard or original; exact.
  • a close translation
    (John Locke)
  • Accurate; careful; precise; also, attentive; undeviating; strict.
  • 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) high
    Antonyms
    * (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) open
    Derived terms
    * close call * closely * closeness * close shave * close-up * thisclose

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • 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
  • closes surrounded by the venerable abodes of deans and canons.
  • (legal) The interest which one may have in a piece of ground, even though it is not enclosed.
  • (Bouvier)
    Synonyms
    * (street) cul-de-sac

    Statistics

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