closure

/ˈkloʊʒər/

/ˈklʌʊʒə/

Other forms: closures; closured; closuring

Closure is the end or the closing down of something. It can be physical — like the closure of your local library — or emotional, like the closure you experience when you finally come to terms with the end of a romance.

Closure comes from the Latin claus ("shut"), and it has many different shades of meaning. A road closure blocks that road from traffic. If you find closure after an emotional hardship, you're ready to move on. An obstruction in a small passage, like a pipe, is also a closure, as is the button on your sweater. In debate, closure (usually cloture), stops debate and starts the vote.

Definitions of closure

1. noun

   termination of operations
   “they regretted the closure of the day care center”

   synonyms: closedown, closing, shutdown

   types:

   plant closing

   act of shutting down operation of a plant

   bank closing

   act of closing down a bank because of a fiscal emergency or failure

   layoff

   the act of laying off an employee or a work force

   type of:

   conclusion, ending, termination

   the act of ending something
2. noun

   something settled or resolved; the outcome of decision making
   “he needed to grieve before he could achieve a sense of closure”

   synonyms: resolution, settlement

   type of:

   deciding, decision making

   the cognitive process of reaching a decision
3. noun

   the act of blocking
   synonyms: blockage, occlusion

   types:

   implosion

   the initial occluded phase of a stop consonant

   type of:

   obstruction

   the act of obstructing
4. noun

   an obstruction in a pipe or tube
   synonyms: block, blockage, occlusion, stop, stoppage

   types:

   breech closer, breechblock

   a metal block in breech-loading firearms that is withdrawn to insert a cartridge and replaced to close the breech before firing

   plug, stopper, stopple

   blockage consisting of an object designed to fill a hole tightly

   vapor lock, vapour lock

   a stoppage in a pipeline caused by gas bubbles (especially a stoppage that develops in hot weather in an internal-combustion engine when fuel in the gas line boils and forms bubbles that block the flow of gasoline to the carburetor)

   bung, spile

   a plug used to close a hole in a barrel or flask

   bottle cork, cork

   the plug in the mouth of a bottle (especially a wine bottle)

   drainplug

   a removable plug for holding water in a tub or basin

   earplug

   a plug of cotton, wax, or rubber that is fitted into the ear canal for protection against the entry of water or loud noise

   fipple

   a wooden plug forming a flue pipe (as the mouthpiece of a recorder)

   tampion, tompion

   plug for the muzzle of a gun to keep out dust and moisture

   tampon

   plug of cotton or other absorbent material; inserted into wound or body cavity to absorb exuded fluids (especially blood)

   spigot, tap

   a plug for a bunghole in a cask

   type of:

   impediment, impedimenta, obstructer, obstruction, obstructor

   any structure that makes progress difficult
5. noun

   approaching a particular destination; a coming closer; a narrowing of a gap
   synonyms: closing

   type of:

   approach, approaching, coming

   the act of drawing spatially closer to something
6. noun

   a rule for limiting or ending debate in a deliberative body
   synonyms: cloture, gag law, gag rule

   types:

   closure by compartment, guillotine

   closure imposed on the debate of specific sections of a bill

   type of:

   order, parliamentary law, parliamentary procedure, rules of order

   a body of rules followed by an assembly
7. verb

   terminate debate by calling for a vote
   “debate was closured”

   synonyms: cloture

   type of:

   end, terminate

   bring to an end or halt
8. noun

   a Gestalt principle of organization holding that there is an innate tendency to perceive incomplete objects as complete and to close or fill gaps and to perceive asymmetric stimuli as symmetric
   synonyms: law of closure

   type of:

   Gestalt law of organization, Gestalt principle of organization

   a principle of Gestalt psychology that identifies factors leading to particular forms of perceptual organization