How to pronounce close in American English

IPA /kloʊz/ Syllables 1 · klohz Stress 1st syllable

KLOHZ

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Americans pronounce close as KLOHZ (/kloʊz/).

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In real conversation

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"Close the door."

"Could you close the curtain, please?"

kuud yuh KLOHZ dhuh KUR·tuhn PLEEZ

"I need to close the back window."

ahy NEED tuh KLOHZ dhuh BAK WIHN·doh

"It must be getting close to noon."

iht muhst bee GEH·duhng KLOHS tuh NOON

"Please close the windows to freeze the noise."

PLEEZ KLOHZ dhuh WIHN·dohz tuh FREEZ dhuh NOYZ

"Public opinion polls suggest a close race between the candidates."

PUH·bluhk uh·PIHN·yuhn POHLZ suhg·JEHST uh KLOHS RAYS buh·TWEEN dhuh KAN·duh·dayts

Questions

Questions people ask about this.

Is the American pronunciation of "close" different from British English?

American English uses different vowel shapes, a relaxed retroflex R, and connected-speech tricks like flap-T and glottal-stop T that British Received Pronunciation generally avoids. The respell "KLOHZ" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.