different between scarce vs close
scarce
English
Alternative forms
- scarse (obsolete)
Etymology
From Middle English scarce, skarce, scarse, scars, from Old Northern French scars, escars ("sparing, niggard, parsimonious, miserly, poor"; > French échars, Medieval Latin scarsus (“diminished, reduced”)), of uncertain origin. One theory is that it derives originally from a Late Latin *scarpsus, *excarpsus, a participle form of *excarpere (“take out”), from Latin ex- + carpere; yet the sense evolution is difficult to trace. Compare also Middle Dutch schaers (“sparing, niggard”), Middle Dutch schaers (“a pair of shears, plowshare”), scheeren (“to shear”).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /?sk??s/
- (General American) IPA(key): /?sk??s/
Adjective
scarce (comparative scarcer, superlative scarcest)
- Uncommon, rare; difficult to find; insufficient to meet a demand.
- You tell him silver is scarcer now in England, and therefore risen in value one fifth.
- (archaic) Scantily supplied (with); deficient (in); used with of.
Synonyms
- (uncommon, rare): geason, infrequent, raresome; see also Thesaurus:rare
Derived terms
Related terms
- scarcity
Translations
Adverb
scarce (not comparable)
- (now literary, archaic) Scarcely, only just.
- 1898, J. Meade Falkner, Moonfleet Chapter 4:
- Yet had I scarce set foot in the passage when I stopped, remembering how once already this same evening I had played the coward, and run home scared with my own fears.
- 1906, Alfred Noyes, The Highwayman:
- He rose upright in the stirrups; he scarce could reach her hand,
- But she loosened her hair i' the casement! His face burnt like a brand
- As the black cascade of perfume came tumbling over his breast;
- And he kissed its waves in the moonlight,
- (Oh, sweet, black waves in the moonlight!)
- 1931, William Faulkner, Sanctuary, Vintage 1993, p. 122:
- Upon the barred and slitted wall the splotched shadow of the heaven tree shuddered and pulsed monstrously in scarce any wind.
- 1969, John Cleese, Monty Python's Flying Circus:
- Well, it's scarce the replacement then, is it?
- 1898, J. Meade Falkner, Moonfleet Chapter 4:
Anagrams
- Craces, arcsec
Middle English
Noun
scarce
- Alternative form of sarse
scarce From the web:
- what scarce means
- what do scarce mean
- what does scarce mean
close
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)
- (physical) To remove a gap.
- To obstruct (an opening).
- 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.
- To make (e.g. a gap) smaller.
- 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.
- 1856-1858, William H. Prescott, History of the Reign of Phillip II
- (social) To finish, to terminate.
- To put an end to; to conclude; to complete; to finish; to consummate.
- One frugal supper did our studies close.
- To come to an end.
- (marketing) To make a sale.
- (baseball, pitching) To make the final outs, usually three, of a game.
- (figuratively, computing) To terminate an application, window, file or database connection, etc.
- To put an end to; to conclude; to complete; to finish; to consummate.
- 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.
- (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)
- An end or conclusion.
- We owe them our thanks for bringing the project to a successful close.
- The manner of shutting; the union of parts; junction.
- (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.
- A grapple in wrestling.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Francis Bacon to this entry?)
- (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.
- (music) A double bar marking the end.
- (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)
- (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.
- 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Matthew chapter 8:
- Narrow; confined.
- a close alley; close quarters
- a close prison
- At a little distance; near.
- Intimate; well-loved.
- (law) Of a corporation or other business entity, closely held.
- Oppressive; without motion or ventilation; causing a feeling of lassitude.
- (Ireland, England, Scotland, weather) 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.
- He yet kept himself close because of Saul.
- Nearly equal; almost evenly balanced.
- a close contest
- Short.
- to cut grass or hair close
- (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.
- 1690, John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding
- (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.
- (dated) Difficult to obtain.
- Money is close.
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Bartlett to this entry?)
- (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.
- 1837, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Twice-Told Tales, Volume I: "Mr. Higginbotham's Catastrophe":
- Adhering strictly to a standard or original; exact.
- a close translation
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Locke to this entry?)
- Accurate; careful; precise; also, attentive; undeviating; strict.
- The patient was kept under close observation.
- 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)
- (now rare, chiefly Yorkshire) An enclosed field.
- (chiefly 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.
- (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
- feminine singular of clos
Verb
close
- first-person singular present subjunctive of clore
- third-person singular present subjunctive of clore
Participle
close
- feminine singular of the past participle of clore
Anagrams
- socle
Middle English
Noun
close
- plural of cloth
Portuguese
Noun
close m (plural closes)
- (photography) close-up (photography in which the subject is shown at a large scale)
- Synonym: close-up
- attitude
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