close to

idiom

1

: almost or nearly

They spent close to half a million dollars on the project.

Our company employs close to a thousand workers.

I haven't seen her in close to a year.

2

British : from a short distance : close up

She's even more beautiful when seen close to.

Examples of close to in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

By the thirteenth century, Vajrayana was close to extinct in its own birthplace, and Tibet, the ex-satellite, had become the new center. —Jackson Arn, The New Yorker, 2 Jan. 2025

Ovechkin is somewhat unlikely to be close to the record at this point, which is good luck for the league, who definitely don’t want to see history happen when eastern sports fans are already asleep. —Sean McIndoe, The Athletic, 1 Jan. 2025

While the respective visual projects on the Blu-ray discs are quite close to perfection, the recording on the CD allows fans to enjoy the you-are-there vibe of the show. —Billboard Japan, Billboard, 27 Dec. 2024

But that piece of the puzzle must be considered if the players are close to a return. —Joe Buscaglia, The Athletic, 27 Dec. 2024