A dictionary of Confusable Phrases: More Than 10,000 Idioms and Collocations

close something up • shut something up
close something up —
1
. (of a well) close by filling up: We must
close up the old well, it’s dangerous. 2. (of a road) close by
blocking: Leaving town I saw a few signs saying that the road
was closed up ahead. 3. cause smth. to join together: Children
have to learn to close up their letters when writing. 4. (of a
building, shop, etc.) close (for a short time): We are closing up
the house for the weekend.
shut something up —(of a building, shop, etc.) close securely;
make safe by locking: We’re going to shut the house up for
the summer while we are away.
close the barn door after the horse gets out • your
barn door is open
close the barn door after the horse gets out—not take any action
until after a problem has already occurred: The problem is
that post-accident testing closes the barn door after the horse
is long gone.
your barn door is open —(U.S. euph.) is used as a caution to
a man having his trouser zip undone: “Excuse me … I couldn’t
help but notice your barn door is open.” “What?” “Um …
your fly is open.”
close the book on something • close the books on
something
close the book on something —put an end to a matter; stop
– 73 –
close the book on something

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working on a case: The police insinuate that David may have
been involved in illegal activities and seem to close the book
on the case.
Note: 
The expression does not correlate in meaning with the
phrase closed book, a— used of a person or thing one can’t figure
out or does not know anything about: “At first, I politely refused
the commission, as opera is a closed book to me,” says Tojuro…
close the books on something —balance accounts at the end of
an accounting period: While residential brokerages expect to
close the books next month on a record sales year, they are al-
ready seeing signs of a slowdown.
See also: open a book on something / open book, an.