Words / B2

KLOHZH-uh/ˈkləʊʒə/

Closure is the act of shutting something, often for good: school closures, the closure of a factory. Close is the everyday verb; shutdown is a close news cousin. Closure can also mean a feeling that a painful event is finished (need closure). In speech, shutting down / an ending is enough. Do not use closure for locking a door for the night — that is closing, not a closure — and do not treat emotional closure as a legal term.

Meaning

The act of shutting something permanently; also a sense that a difficult event is finished.

Examples

• “The factory closure put two hundred people out of work.”
• “The library announced weekend closures during the roof repairs.”
• “Families asked for an inquiry, not only “closure”, after the crash.”

Good to know

A shutting down (often permanent). Everyday: shutting. Also: a sense that something is finished. Not merely locking a door tonight.

Near in meaning

shutdown

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