Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🏪 To shut business 🔒 To seal shut 🔍 Very near 🤐 To stop talking
to close up

to close up

2 4.8
To stop talking and say nothing
  • phrasal verb
  • /kloʊs ʌp/
: callarse
  • I waited, but he closed up before he could take me.
  • throat closes up
  • face closes up
  • so he closed up

Like just trying to make some small talk and he's like, no, He's like, no, I think, no, no, I think my throat's closing up.

Examples

Synonyms

to shut up
vsto close up
  • Offensive
∞ 4.1

Tell someone to be quiet in a rude or angry way

usually means refusing to speak oneself rather than commanding others
to be quiet
vsto close up
445 1.0

To stop making noise or talking

is often sudden refusal to speak rather than calm quietness
to hush up
vsto close up
  • Informal
20 5.0

Make someone stop talking and be quiet

is mainly about becoming silent oneself sometimes unwillingly
to clam up
vsto close up
  • Informal
18 6.6

Stop talking suddenly because you are nervous or do not want to say anything

is a general refusal to speak not only due to nerves
to button up
vsto close up
  • Informal
15 7.1

To stop talking suddenly and not answer questions

covers stopping speech but is not only sudden or unexplained
to dummy up
vsto close up
  • Archaic
4 9.6

Refuse to speak or suddenly stop talking when asked

is a broader silence that can be unwilling rather than evasive
to keep mum
vsto close up
  • Informal
3 7.5

Stay quiet about something private

is about stopping speech suddenly rather than deliberate secrecy
to belt up
vsto close up
  • Offensive
1 9.2

To tell someone to stop talking and be quiet

is used for becoming silent oneself rather than ordering others
to shut one's mouth
vsto close up
  • Informal
1 4.4

To stop talking to keep a secret or when told to be quiet

focuses on sudden refusal to speak not only secrecy reasons

Antonyms

to open up
  • Informal
204 2.9

Begin to talk honestly about your thoughts and feelings

to speak up
19 2.0

Talk more loudly so people can hear you

How Talkative

talkative
33 2.5
quiet
109 1.0
to close up
2 4.8
tight-lipped
17 5.7
silent
447 1.0

Surface Forms

close up infinitive
closed up past
closed up past participle
closing up present participle
closes up third person singular

Morphology

close + up

The meaning 'at or from a very short distance' is directly derivable from the spatial sense of 'close' (near) combined with 'up' as a directional/intensifying particle, so a B1 learner who knows those constituent senses will infer the MWE. This follows common English composition patterns (and parallels in other languages), making the expression immediately comprehensible and transparent.

Etymology

Close up comes from the picture of someone suddenly shutting their mouth tight so no words come out. That's why it means 'to stop talking'.