1
as in ending
to bring (an event) to a natural or appropriate stopping point
the team closed out the season with major losses
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in excluding
to prevent the participation, consideration, or inclusion of
don't assume an attitude that closes out any possibility of a compromise
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in closing (down)
to stop the operations of
failing health forced the cardiologist to close out his practice
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of closing out
The German director is presenting her new feature, The Dreamed Adventure, in the competition lineup, closing out the festival on the final Friday, May 22.
—
Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 15 May 2026
In Santa Fe, dine at The Shed before closing out at El Vado Motel.
—Colson Thayer, PEOPLE, 15 May 2026
Rahe had pitched three innings and thrown 47 pitches in Thursday’s win over BYU before again closing out Friday’s contest for his ninth save.
—Gary Bedore
may 15, Kansas City Star, 15 May 2026
On this recent and unseasonably warm afternoon, Ronnie, 15, was tasked with closing out an hourlong lecture on free people of color in the Revolutionary War.
—Karissa Waddick, USA Today, 25 Apr. 2026
His last-minute, mixmaster approach to closing out the transit negotiations irritated several participants, but the end result was a fiscally responsible and transformative restructuring of mass transit in northern Illinois.
—David Greising, Chicago Tribune, 24 Apr. 2026
By 2025, the former New York Yankee earned a spot in the starting rotation but struggled with consistency and closing out hitters.
—Annie Heilbrunn, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Apr. 2026
The lineup sparked immediate buzz across social media, with the group headlining opening night alongside Jaÿ-Z—a full-circle moment tracing back to their MTV Unplugged collaboration nearly 25 years ago—with Erykah Badu closing out the second night.
—Preezy Brown, VIBE.com, 3 Apr. 2026
Update on Bud Wells After closing out decades of service publishing this weekly report, Bud still reviews cars on his own website and has a newsletter to report those out.
—Sponsored Content, Denver Post, 27 Mar. 2026
Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 15 May 2026
In Santa Fe, dine at The Shed before closing out at El Vado Motel.
—Colson Thayer, PEOPLE, 15 May 2026
Rahe had pitched three innings and thrown 47 pitches in Thursday’s win over BYU before again closing out Friday’s contest for his ninth save.
—Gary Bedore
may 15, Kansas City Star, 15 May 2026
On this recent and unseasonably warm afternoon, Ronnie, 15, was tasked with closing out an hourlong lecture on free people of color in the Revolutionary War.
—Karissa Waddick, USA Today, 25 Apr. 2026
His last-minute, mixmaster approach to closing out the transit negotiations irritated several participants, but the end result was a fiscally responsible and transformative restructuring of mass transit in northern Illinois.
—David Greising, Chicago Tribune, 24 Apr. 2026
By 2025, the former New York Yankee earned a spot in the starting rotation but struggled with consistency and closing out hitters.
—Annie Heilbrunn, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Apr. 2026
The lineup sparked immediate buzz across social media, with the group headlining opening night alongside Jaÿ-Z—a full-circle moment tracing back to their MTV Unplugged collaboration nearly 25 years ago—with Erykah Badu closing out the second night.
—Preezy Brown, VIBE.com, 3 Apr. 2026
Update on Bud Wells After closing out decades of service publishing this weekly report, Bud still reviews cars on his own website and has a newsletter to report those out.
—Sponsored Content, Denver Post, 27 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for closing out
Verb
-
Announced Tuesday, the Mavericks and Kidd mutually agreed to part ways, ending a coaching tenure that began in 2021 and concluded with an even 205-205 regular-season record.—
Alejandro Avila OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
20 May 2026
-
Cuffe redshirted during the Jayhawks’ 2022 national championship season and then played in just two games for head coach Bill Self before suffering a season-ending injury in 2022-23.—
Gary Bedore
May 18,
Kansas City Star,
19 May 2026
Verb
-
Colorado recently enacted legislation granting free access to state parks for members of two of our sister signatory Tribes, while excluding the Ute Indian Tribe — descendants of bands that occupied what is today the state of Colorado from time immemorial.—
Shaun Chapoose,
Denver Post,
20 May 2026
-
The district has seen a long-term decline in PreK-12 enrollment, excluding charter schools, and projections indicate a further drop by 2030-2031.—
Sarah Perkel,
USA Today,
20 May 2026
Verb
-
The interactive museum is finishing up a major expansion, and visitors will soon be able to see even more of its extensive collection up close.—
Travel + Leisure Editors,
Travel + Leisure,
19 May 2026
-
After finishing her schooling at Exarch Joseph I in Lovech, Karabash earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Veliko Tarnovo in applied linguistics with English and French.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
19 May 2026
Verb
-
Public libraries in 2025 navigated a year that saw the challenging, and banning of, thousands of books, stiffer budgetary limits and federal threats to funding.—
Adeel Hassan,
New York Times,
18 May 2026
-
This gets back to the partisan gerrymandering issue, which Congress, of course, could pass a law tomorrow banning partisan gerrymandering.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
17 May 2026
Verb
-
Instead, the challenge is to better understand the postsecondary programs that consistently fail to achieve an economic benefit for students and either fix them or consider shutting them down.—
Michael T. Nietzel,
Forbes.com,
17 May 2026
-
Both have received insufficient attention over the past several decades, and the federal government is all but shutting them both down.—
Eleanor Dearman,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
14 May 2026
Verb
-
This new round of chaos only feeds the anxiety that has enveloped the California Democratic Party for months, stirred by fears that the lack of a singular party front-runner might lead to two Republicans winding up on the November ballot.—
Seema Mehta,
Los Angeles Times,
13 Apr. 2026
-
Newsom is winding up eight years as governor with a mixed record at best.—
Tom Philp,
Mercury News,
8 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Dulgeroff estimated that closing the La Jolla Rec Center would result in a budget reduction of $231,975.—
Ashley Mackin Solomon,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
14 May 2026
-
Hernandez will compete in the Southern Section finals on Saturday with the goal of closing her high school athletics career at the end of the month at the state track and field championships in Clovis.—
Marisa Ingemi,
Los Angeles Times,
14 May 2026
Verb
-
Federal judges allowed all five to resume construction, essentially concluding that the government didn’t show that the national security risk was so imminent that construction must halt.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
14 May 2026
-
The trek kicks off in September in Detroit before concluding in Atlanta.—
Kiana Mickles,
Pitchfork,
11 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Closing out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/closing%20out. Accessed 21 May. 2026.
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