closure

UK: /ˈkləʊʒə^r/ US: /ˈkloʊʒɚ/ ,(klō′zhər)

Inflections of 'closure' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

closures

v 3rd person singular

closuring

v pres p

closured

v past

closured

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

clo•sure /ˈkloʊʒɚ/   n. 

1. the act of closing or the state of being closed:
   [countable] the closures of several companies.
   [uncountable] forcing closure of the border.
2. a bringing to an end;
   conclusion:
   [uncountable] His writing needs better closure; he doesn't know how to end an essay.

See -clos-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

clo•sure  (klō′zhər), n., v., -sured, -sur•ing. 
n. 

1. the act of closing;
   the state of being closed.
2. a bringing to an end;
   conclusion.
3. something that closes or shuts.
4. Building closer (def. 2).
5. Architecture an architectural screen or parapet, esp. one standing free between columns or piers.
6. Phonetics an occlusion of the vocal tract as an articulatory feature of a particular speech sound. Cf. constriction (def. 5).
7. Government [Parl. Proc.] a cloture.
8. Surveying completion of a closed traverse in such a way that the point of origin and the endpoint coincide within an acceptably small margin of error. Cf. error of closure.
9. Mathematics
   • the property of being closed with respect to a particular operation.
   • Mathematics the intersection of all closed sets that contain a given set.
10. Psychology
    • the tendency to see an entire figure even though the picture of it is incomplete, based primarily on the viewer's past experience.
    • a sense of psychological certainty or completeness:
      a need for closure.
11. [Obs.] something that encloses or shuts in;
    enclosure.

v.t., v.i. 

12. [Parl. Proc.] to cloture.

• Latin clausūra. See close, -ure
• Middle French
• Middle English 1350–1400

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

closure / ˈkləʊʒə/ noun

1. the act of closing or the state of being closed
2. an end or conclusion
3. something that closes or shuts, such as a cap or seal for a container
4. (in a deliberative body) a procedure by which debate may be halted and an immediate vote taken
   See also cloture, guillotine
5. the resolution of a significant event or relationship in a person's life
6. a sense of contentment experienced after such a resolution

verb

1. (transitive) (in a deliberative body) to end (debate) by closure

Etymology: 14th Century: from Old French, from Late Latin clausūra bar, from Latin claudere to close