closer

• IPA^(key): /kləʊsə/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

closer

1. comparative form of close: more close
   • 2013 July 20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:

     [The researchers] noticed many of their pieces of [plastic marine] debris sported surface pits around two microns across. Such pits are about the size of a bacterial cell. Closer examination showed that some of these pits did, indeed, contain bacteria, […].

From Middle English closere, equivalent to close (verb) +‎ -er.

• IPA^(key): /ˈkləʊzə/

• Audio (US), noun

  (file)

closer (plural closers)

1. Someone or something that closes.

   In our organization, the VP of Sales usually acts as the closer.

2. Someone or something that concludes.

   The DJ chose a fantastic track as his closer at the end of the night.

3. The last stone in a horizontal course, if smaller than the others; a piece of brick finishing a course.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Gwilt to this entry?)

4. (baseball) A relief pitcher who specializes in getting the last three outs of the game. See Wikipedia:closer (baseball)

   They brought their closer in for the ninth.

• Cloers, Clores, Corles, ceorls, cresol, escrol, sclero-