close the book on

English

Etymology

By analogy to closing an accounting journal.

Verb

close the book on (third-person singular simple present closes the book on, present participle closing the book on, simple past and past participle closed the book on)

1. (idiomatic) To stop worrying about or trying to do something about; to ignore.
   • 2011, David Gooblar, The Major Phases of Philip Roth, page 157:

     Roth's continued productivity ensures that we can't yet close the book on his career.

   • 2012, J.M Masson, The Oceanic Feeling:

     What greater pleasure for a child than to be able to close the book on all his terrors and go to sleep.

   • 2014, Chris Porter, Scapegoat - Scales of Justice Burning, page 37:

     I guess it would take a genius to figure that out and perhaps that is why Pilot Insurance Company and General Accident were so content to close the book on this subject.

2. (idiomatic) To finish; to bring to an end.
   • 2007, Anne E. Russon, David R. Begun, The Evolution of Thought:

     We do not presume that our reconstruction will close the book on the evolutionary origins of great ape cognition.

   • 2009, Peter Doggett, There's a Riot Going On:

     Michael X's execution seemed to close the book on the revolution that rock stars and radicals alike had been awaiting for the previous decade.

   • 2011, Andrea Penrose, The Cocoa Conspiracy:

     The gathering, an unprecedented convocation of rulers, influential diplomats and their entourages, was meant to be a grand ending and a grand beginning—the movers and shakers were looking to close the book on the strife and upheavals of the Napoleonic Wars and begin a new chapter of world peace.

Usage notes

• Not to be confused with close the books.