different between close vs exact

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English closen (“to close, enclose”), partly continuing (in altered form) earlier Middle English clusen (“to close”) (from Old English cl?san (“to close, shut”); compare beclose, foreclose, etc.), and partly derived from Middle English clos (“close, shut up, confined, secret”, adjective), from Old French clos (“close, confined”, adjective), from Latin clausus (“shut up”, past participle), from claudere (“to bar, block, close, enclose, bring an end to, confine”), from Proto-Indo-European *kl?w- (“key, hook, nail”), related to Latin cl?vis (“key, deadbolt, bar”), cl?vus (“nail, peg”), claustrum (“bar, bolt, barrier”), claustra (“dam, wall, barricade, stronghold”). Cognate with Ancient Greek ????? (kleís, “bar, bolt, key”), German schließen (“to close, conclude, lock”), Dutch sluiten (“to close, conclude, lock”). Partially replaced Old English l?can (“to close, lock, enclose”), (whence English lock).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: kl?z, IPA^(key): /kl??z/
• (General American) enPR: kl?z, IPA^(key): /klo?z/
• Rhymes: -??z
• Homophone: clothes (in some dialects)

Verb

close (third-person singular simple present closes, present participle closing, simple past and past participle closed)

1. (physical) To remove a gap.
   1. To obstruct (an opening).
   2. To move so that an opening is closed.
      • 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.

   3. To make (e.g. a gap) smaller.

   4. To grapple; to engage in close combat.
      • 1856-1858, William H. Prescott, History of the Reign of Phillip II

        They boldly closed in a hand-to-hand contest.

2. (social) To finish, to terminate.
   1. To put an end to; to conclude; to complete; to finish; to consummate.

      • One frugal supper did our studies close.

   2. To come to an end.

   3. (marketing) To make a sale.
   4. (baseball, pitching) To make the final outs, usually three, of a game.

   5. (figuratively, computing) To terminate an application, window, file or database connection, etc.
3. To come or gather around; to enclose; to encompass; to confine.

   • The depth closed me round about.

   • 1633, George Herbert, The Church

     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.

4. (surveying) To have a vector sum of 0; that is, to form a closed polygon.

Synonyms

• (obstruct (an opening)): close off, close up, cover, shut, shut off
• (move (a door)): shut
• (put an end to): end, finish, terminate, wind up, close down
• (make (a gap) smaller): narrow
• (terminate a computer program): close out, exit

Antonyms

• (obstruct (an opening)): open
• (move (a door)): open
• (put an end to): begin, commence, initiate, start
• (make (a gap) smaller): extend, widen
• (terminate a computer program): open, start

Hyponyms

• autoclose

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

close (plural closes)

1. An end or conclusion.

   We owe them our thanks for bringing the project to a successful close.
2. The manner of shutting; the union of parts; junction.
3. (sales) The point at the end of a sales pitch when the consumer is asked to buy.

   Synonym: closer

   • 1983, Charles B. Roth, ?Roy Alexander, Secrets of Closing Sales (page 110)

     Regardless of the situation, the minute you feel it's time for the close, try it.

4. A grapple in wrestling.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Francis Bacon to this entry?)

5. (music) The conclusion of a strain of music; cadence.

   • At every close she made, the attending throng / Replied, and bore the burden of the song.

6. (music) A double bar marking the end.
7. (aviation, travel) The time when checkin staff will no longer accept passengers for a flight.

Synonyms

• (end): end, finale

Antonyms

• (end): beginning, start

Translations

Etymology 2

Borrowed from French clos, from Latin clausum, participle of claud?.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: kl?s, IPA^(key): /kl??s/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /klo?s/
• Rhymes: -??s

Adjective

close (comparative closer, superlative closest)

2. (now rare) 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.

   • 1830, Thomas Thomson (chemist) The History of Chemistry, Vol. 1, pp. 30-31:

     As the alchymists were assiduous workmen—as they mixed all the metals, salts, &c... and subjected such mixtures to the action of heat in close vessels, their labours were occasionally repaid by the discovery of new substances...

   • 1847, Charlotte Brontë Jane Eyre, chapter 1:

     I mounted into the window-seat: gathering up my feet, I sat cross-legged, like a Turk; and, having drawn the red moreen curtain nearly close, I was shrined in double retirement.

3. Narrow; confined.

   a close alley; close quarters

   • a close prison

4. At a little distance; near.

5. Intimate; well-loved.
   1. (law) Of a corporation or other business entity, closely held.
6. Oppressive; without motion or ventilation; causing a feeling of lassitude.
7. (Ireland, England, Scotland, weather) Hot, humid, with no wind.
9. (linguistics, phonetics, of a vowel) Articulated with the tongue body relatively close to the hard palate.
10. Strictly confined; carefully guarded.

    a close prisoner

11. (obsolete) Out of the way of observation; secluded; secret; hidden.

    • He yet kept himself close because of Saul.
12. Nearly equal; almost evenly balanced.

    a close contest

13. Short.

    to cut grass or hair close

14. (archaic) Dense; solid; compact.
    • 1690, John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding

      The golden globe being put into a press, [...] the water made itself way through the pores of that very close metal.

15. (archaic) Concise; to the point.

    close reasoning

    • 1690, John Dryden, Translations (Preface)

      Where the original is close no version can reach it in the same compass.

16. (dated) Difficult to obtain.

    Money is close.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Bartlett to this entry?)

17. (dated) Parsimonious; stingy.
    • 1837, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Twice-Told Tales, Volume I: "Mr. Higginbotham's Catastrophe":

      [...] he was a crusty old fellow, as close as a vice.

    • 1852-1853, Charles Dickens, Bleak House

      Though a hard-grained man, close, dry, and silent, he can enjoy old wine with the best. He has a priceless bin of port in some artful cellar under the Fields, which is one of his many secrets.

18. Adhering strictly to a standard or original; exact.

    a close translation

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Locke to this entry?)

19. Accurate; careful; precise; also, attentive; undeviating; strict.

    The patient was kept under close observation.

20. Marked, evident.

Synonyms

• (at a little distance): close by, near, nearby; see also Thesaurus:near
• (intimate): intimate
• (hot, humid): muggy, oppressive; see also Thesaurus:muggy
• (articulated with the tongue body relatively close to the hard palate): high
• (dense, solid, compact): see also Thesaurus:compact

Antonyms

• (at a little distance): distant, far, faraway, far off, remote; see also Thesaurus:distant
• (intimate): aloof, cool, distant
• (articulated with the tongue body relatively close to the hard palate): open

Hyponyms

• thisclose
• ultra-close

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

close (plural closes)

1. (now rare, chiefly Yorkshire) An enclosed field.
2. (chiefly British) A street that ends in a dead end.
3. (Scotland) A very narrow alley between two buildings, often overhung by one of the buildings above the ground floor.
4. (Scotland) The common staircase in a tenement.
5. A cathedral close.
6. (law) The interest which one may have in a piece of ground, even though it is not enclosed.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Bouvier to this entry?)

Synonyms

• (street): cul-de-sac
• (narrow alley): See Thesaurus:alley

Translations

Descendants

• ? Irish: clós
• ? Welsh: clos

Anagrams

• Coles, coles, socle

French

Pronunciation

Adjective

close

1. feminine singular of clos

Verb

close

1. first-person singular present subjunctive of clore
2. third-person singular present subjunctive of clore

Participle

close

1. feminine singular of the past participle of clore

Anagrams

• socle

Middle English

Noun

close

1. plural of cloth

Portuguese

Noun

close m (plural closes)

1. (photography) close-up (photography in which the subject is shown at a large scale)

   Synonym: close-up

2. attitude

English

Etymology

From Old French, from Medieval Latin exactare, from Latin exactus, perfect passive participle of exig? (“demand, claim as due" or "measure by a standard, weigh, test”), from ex (“out”) + ag? (“drive”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???zækt/
• Rhymes: -ækt

Adjective

exact (comparative exacter or more exact, superlative exactest or most exact)

1. Precisely agreeing with a standard, a fact, or the truth; perfectly conforming; neither exceeding nor falling short in any respect.

2. Habitually careful to agree with a standard, a rule, or a promise; accurate; methodical; punctual.
   • 1661, John Fell, The Life of the most learned, reverend and pious Dr. H. Hammond

     During the whole time of his abode in the university he generally spent thirteen hours of the day in study; by which assiduity besides an exact dispatch of the whole course of philosophy, he read over in a manner all classic authors that are extant […]

3. Precisely or definitely conceived or stated; strict.
4. (algebra, of a sequence of groups connected by homomorphisms) Such that the kernel of one homomorphism is the image of the preceding one.

Synonyms

• (precisely agreeing): perfect, true, correct, precise
• (precisely or definitely conceived or stated): strict
• spot on

Antonyms

• (precisely agreeing): inexact, imprecise, approximate
• (precisely or definitely conceived or stated): loose

Derived terms

• exactly
• exactness
• exact sequence

Translations

Verb

exact (third-person singular simple present exacts, present participle exacting, simple past and past participle exacted)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To demand and enforce the payment or performance of, sometimes in a forcible or imperious way.

   to exact tribute, fees, or obedience from someone

   • He said into them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you.

   • 2018, Edo Konrad, "Living in the constant shadow of settler violence", +972 Magazine:

   • 2020 September 19, statement of Clarence Thomas on the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg[1]:

     She was a superb judge who gave her best and exacted the best from each of us, whether in agreement or disagreement.

   • 2020, Kristine Henriksen Garroway, John W. Martens, Children and Methods (page 139)

     […] a generic, strikingly universal, deity, “ha-elohim,” who tests, who exacts and extracts, and who is the object of fear […]

2. (transitive) To make desirable or necessary.
   • 1632, Philip Massinger, The Maid of Honour

     My designs exact me in another place.

3. (transitive) To inflict; to forcibly obtain or produce.

   to exact revenge on someone

Usage notes

• Often used with the preposition from or on.

Derived terms

• exactable
• exacter
• exacting
• exactor

Translations

Adverb

exact (comparative more exact, superlative most exact)

1. exactly

Synonyms

• (error-free manner): accurately, just, precisely; see also Thesaurus:exactly

Further reading

• exact in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• exact in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• exact at OneLook Dictionary Search

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French exact, from Middle French exact, from Latin ex?ctus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?k?s?kt/
• Hyphenation: exact
• Rhymes: -?kt

Adjective

exact (comparative exacter, superlative exactst)

1. exact, precise

Inflection

Derived terms

• exactheid

Descendants

• Afrikaans: eksak

French

Etymology

From Latin ex?ctus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??.zakt/, (old-fashioned) /??.za/

Adjective

exact (feminine singular exacte, masculine plural exacts, feminine plural exactes)

1. exact; precise

Derived terms

• exactement
• science exacte

Further reading

• “exact” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French exact.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /e??zakt/

Adjective

exact m or n (feminine singular exact?, masculine plural exac?i, feminine and neuter plural exacte)

1. exact, precise

Declension

Adverb

exact

1. exactly, precisely

See also

• precis