1. It is close on midnight.

2. She is close on sixty.

3. Bidding for the painting will close on Friday.

4. Dangers close on the city.

5. I think there are close on three million unemployed at present.

6. Russia's presidential campaign sputtered to an uneasy close on Monday.

7. Catering may now account for close on a quarter of pub turnover.

8. It's ,close on 'midnight.

9. Yet another scandal followed close on the heels of the senator's resignation.

10. We drove close on 500 miles Saturday.

11. The year 1995 drew to a close on a fitting note.

12. But Britain still has a huge gap to close on her major competitors.

13. Remember it's getting close on 20 years since their last Currie Cup win.

14. Cardinal Agagianian brought the debate to a sudden close on 30 October to forestall further public discussion outside the Council.

15. Close on the heels of the outbreak of war came the Great Famine Of 1942-43.

16. It was close on midnight by the time they got home.

17. After close on Saturday therewith, advancement goes to the 6 th this month.

18. It is no accident that close on 500m people—half of all internet users—find Facebook an engaging, enjoyable and even addictive place to wile away their hours.

19. For close on half a century this man was allowed to philosophise unhindered on the streets of his hometown.

20. Applications for the second trimester for 2008 close on March 14.

21. With another couple of laps he might have finished close on the heels of the two Dunlops.

22. He still lives on the outskirts of his adopted city close on 30 years after he signed for them.

23. This, the smallest and humblest of the figures, brings the show to a close on a note of appealing humanity.

24. Never since the wartime cabinet saw Churchill and Atlee working in concert have the main political parties seemed so close on defence.

25. Eventually, your senses overloaded, you feel the train slow as you close on your destination, the port of Prince Rupert, a looming silhouette of cranes tacked with red lights.

26. Tim's $ 70 - a - shar, $ 14 billion tender offer for Warner is scheduled to close on Monday.

27. Place Louis in front and Brumaire behind, you have the whole destiny of the man, with this significant peculiarity, that the end treads close on the heels of the commencement.