to close the book on
5
5.3
- phrasal verb
- Informal
:
dar por cerrado
- For him to close the book on his career but still want to be a part of us every single day is pretty darn neat for us.
- close the book on that chapter
- close the book on this case
- close the book on that deal
Before we, you know, close the book on this this chapter.
- Before we, you know, close the book on this this chapter.
- And so that was really kind of how they were able to close the book on Wayne Williams being the Atlanta child murderer.
Examples
-
It's way too early to close the book on CK.
Blog text (7) -
The Giants closed the book on the Melk Man, and they will not miss him one bit.
Blog text (5) -
Let's close the books on this one.
Fiction book (1991) -
Let's close the book on this one, folks."
Blog text (33) -
They just finally closed the book on 'em and took the loss.
-
So they close the book on JFK.
-
You can close the book on Keltner.
-
I hope we've closed the book on this now.
Blog text (19) -
With a personalized ancestry test certificate and a detailed manual to explain and interpret your results available online, you will have a clearer picture of where you come from—and possibly be able to close the book on some family mysteries.
Blog text (15) -
After reviewing all the evidence, the team decided to close the book on the investigation.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To stop something or make it finish
∞
1.0
To bring something to an end or complete it
∞
1.0
To finish an event, meeting, or activity
324
3.6
To stop or come to an end
226
3.0
Finish an activity or task
190
2.0
To complete an activity or task
147
4.6
To make something stop or finish
131
3.0
To make something stop completely
58
4.2
To stop something that is happening or being given
34
3.9
To stop doing something because you cannot continue or feel you have done enough
31
2.5
To complete the last part of a task
22
3.5
To end, often after a meeting or event
19
3.9
Finish a project, account, or process
17
3.7
Bring an activity or meeting to an end
5
4.1
To show that something is finished
1
5.1
To stop an idea or plan from happening by rejecting it
1
3.6
End something completely so it does not continue
Finish something completely so no more work is needed
To stop a meeting or discussion
Antonyms
How Final
206
5.4
- Informal
5
5.3
596
3.3
49
5.3
14
3.7
Surface Forms
Morphology
The verb 'close' strongly signals ending, so a learner who knows 'close' and 'book' can guess a sense of finishing; however, the intended meaning ('decide something has ended and take no further action') relies on a metaphorical use of 'book' (closing a record or chapter) and the preposition 'on' contributes an abstract relational sense. Because the full idiomatic nuance is not strictly derivable from the literal constituents, the expression is only partially predictable without prior exposure.
Etymology
The phrase close the book on may come from the simple act of closing a book when a story or a case is finished, because shutting the book shows the matter is done. So the phrase now means 'decide something has ended' or 'stop any further action'.