Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CLOIS'TER-ED, pp.

1. Shut up in a cloister; inhabiting a monastery.
2. adj. Solitary; retired from the world. – Shak.
3. Built with peristyles or piazzas; inclosed. – Wotton.

CLOIS'TER-ING, ppr.

Shutting up in a monastery; confining; secluding from the world.

CLOIS'TRESS, n.

A nun; a woman who has vowed religious retirement. [Little used.] – Shak.

CLOKE, n. [Sax. lach. In D. laken, Chaucer, lake is cloth.]

1. A loose outer garment worn over other clothes both by men and women. He was clad with zeal as a cloke. – Is. lix.
2. A cover; that which conceals; a disguise or pretext; an excuse; a fair pretense. Not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness. 1 Pet. ii. They have no cloke for their sin. John xv.

CLOKE, v.t.

1. To cover with a cloke.
2. To hide; to conceal; to use a false covering. – Spenser.

CLOKE'-BAG, n.

A bag in which a cloke or other clothes are carried; a portmanteau. – Shak.

CLOK'ED, pp.

Covered with a cloke; concealed under a cover.

CLOK'ING, ppr.

Covering with a cloke; hiding under an external covering.

CLOMB, v. [pret. of Climb.]

CLONG, v. [old pp. of Cling.]

CLON'IC, a. [Gr. κλονος, a shaking or irregular motion.]

Shaking; convulsive; irregular; as, clonic spasm. – Coxe. Clonic spasm is that in which the muscles or muscular fibers contract and relax alternately, in quick succession, producing the appearance of agitation, as in epilepsy; used in contradistinction to tonic spasm.

CLOOM, v.t. [Sax. clæman.]

To close with glutinous matter. [Local.] – Mortimer.

CLOSE, a.

1. Shut fast; tight; made fast, so as to have no opening; as, a close box; a close vizard.
2. Having parts firmly united; compact; dense; applied to solid substances of any kind; as, the close texture of wood or metal.
3. Having parts firmly adhering; viscous; tenacious; as oil, or glue. – Wilkins.
4. Confined; stagnant; without ventilation or motion; as, close air.
5. Confined; retired. While David kept himself close. – 1 Chron. xii.
6. Hid; private; secret; as, to keep a purpose close. – Numb. v. Luke ix.
7. Confined within narrow limits; narrow; as, a close alley.
8. Near; within a small distance; as, a close fight or action.
9. Joined; in contact or nearly so; crowded; as, to sit close.
10. Compressed, as thoughts or words; hence, brief; concise; opposed to loose or diffuse. Where the original is close, no version can reach it in the same compass. – Dryden.
11. Very near, in place or time; adjoining, or nearly so. I saw him come close to the ram. – Dan. viii. They sailed close by Crete. Acts xxvii. Some dire misfortune follows close behind. – Pope.
12. Having the quality of keeping secrets, thoughts or designs; cautious; as, a close minister. Hence in friendship, trusty; confidential.
13. Having an appearance of concealment; implying art, craft or wariness; as, a close aspect. – Shak.
14. Intent; fixed; attentive; pressing upon the object; as, to give close attention. Keep your mind or thoughts close to the business or subject. – Locke.
15. Full to the point; home; pressing; as, a close argument; bring the argument close to the question. – Dryden.
16. Pressing; earnest; warm; as, a close debate.
17. Confined; secluded from communication; as, a close prisoner.
18. Covetous; penurious; not liberal; as, a close man.
19. Applied to the weather or air, close, in popular language, denotes warm and damp, cloudy or foggy, or warm and relaxing, occasioning a sense of lassitude and depression. Perhaps originally, confined air.
20. Strictly adhering to the original; as, a close translation.
21. In heraldry, drawn in a coat of arms with the wings close, and in a standing posture. – Bailey. Close election, an election in which the votes for the different candidates are nearly equal. Close communion, with Baptists, communion in the Lord's supper with their own sect only. Close vote, an election in which the number of votes for the different persons or different sides of a question is nearly equal.

CLOSE, adv.

Closely; nearly; densely; secretly; pressingly. Behind her death / Close followed, pace for pace. – Milton.

CLOSE, n. [s as z.]

1. An inclosed place; any place surrounded by a fence or other body which defends or confines it, particularly a field, or portion of land.
2. Conclusion; termination; final end; as, the close of life; the close of day or night.
3. A temporary finishing; a pause; rest; cessation; intermission. At every close she made, th' attending throng Replied, and bore the burden of the song. – Dryden.
4. The manner of shutting. The doors of plank were; their close exquisite. – Chapman.
5. A grapple in wrestling. – Bacon.

CLOSE, v.i. [s as z.]

1. To unite; to coalesce; to come together; as the parts of a wound or fracture, or parts separated; often followed by on or upon. The fat closed upon the blade. – Judges iii. The earth closed upon them. – Num. xvi.
2. To end; to terminate, or come to a period; as, the debate closed at six o'clock. To close on or upon, to come to a mutual agreement; to agree on or join in. France and Holland might close upon some measures to our disadvantage. – Temple. To close with, to accede to; to consent or agree to; as, to close with the terms proposed. When followed by the person with whom an agreement is made, to make an agreement with; to unite with; as, to close with an enemy. He took the time when Richard was deposed, / And high and low with happy Harry closed. – Dryden. In this sense, to close in with is less elegant. To close with, or to close in with, to unite; to join closely; to grapple, as persons in a contest; applied to wrestlers, when they come to close embrace for scuffling.

CLOSE, v.t. [s as z. Fr. clos; Arm. verb closa, or closein; part. closet; from the L. participle clausus, of claudo, to shut; Fr. clorre; It. chiudere; chiuso; D. kluis, an inclosure. The D. sluiten, G. schliessen, schloss, Dan. slutter, Sw. sluta, are from the same root, with a prefix. Gr. κλειω, for κλειδοω, whence κλεις, a key, clavis, that which shuts of fastens; W. claws, clwys, a close, a cloister; Sax. hlid, a lid, the shutter; hlidan, to cover; Ir. cleithim, cludaim. See Class Ld, No. 1, 8, 9, 10.]

1. To shut; to make fast, by pressing together, or by stopping an open place, so as to intercept a passage, in almost any manner; as, to close the eyes; to close a gate, door or window. In these and other cases, closing is performed by bringing an object before the opening. To close a book, is to bring the parts together. The Lord hath closed your eyes. Is. xxix. He closed the book. Luke iv.
2. To end; to finish; to conclude; to complete; to bring to a period; as, to close a bargain, or contract. One frugal supper did our studies close. – Dryden.
3. To unite, as the parts of a breach or fracture; to make whole; to consolidate; often followed by up. The Lord closed up the flesh instead thereof. – Gen. ii.
4. To cover; to inclose; to encompass; to overwhelm. The depths closed me round about. – Jonah ii.
5. To inclose; to confine. [See Inclose.]
6. To move or bring together; to unite separate bodies or parts; as, to close the ranks of an army.

CLOSE-BAND-ED, a.

Being in close order; closely united. – Milton.

CLOSE'-BAR-RED, a.

Made close by bars; firmly closed.

CLOSE'-BOD-I-ED, a.

Fitting the body exactly; setting close; as a garment. – Ayliffe.

CLOSE-COM-PACT'ED, a.

Being in compact order; compact. – Addison.

CLOSE'-COUCH-ED, a.

Quite concealed. – Milton.

CLOSE'-CUR-TAIN-ED, a.

Inclosed or surrounded with curtains. – Milton.

CLOS'ED, pp. [s as z.]

Shut; made fast; ended; concluded.

CLOSE'-FIST-ED, a.

Covetous; niggardly. – Berkeley.