close in on
close in on — phrasal verb
- close in onbase form
- closes in on3rd person singular
- closing in on-ing form
- closed in onpast simple
1. to move slowly and steadily toward a person, animal, or place, often with the ai
to move slowly and steadily toward a person, animal, or place, often with the aim of surrounding or catching them — used for both physical pursuit (police, darkness) and figurative approach (deadlines, discoveries)
The police closed in on the suspect's apartment early in the morning.
police + close in on — physical pursuit
Darkness was closing in on the hikers before they reached the mountain hut.
closing in on — darkness approaching
With the deadline closing in on them, the design team worked through the weekend.
After long research, Luca's team is closing in on a treatment for the disease.
Camila could hear footsteps closing in on her from behind in the dark alley.
- approach
neutral and general; lacks the sense of surrounding or trapping
- converge on
suggests multiple people or forces coming from different directions toward one point
- encircle
more specific; implies surrounding from all sides, often completing the action
- retreat from
to move away instead of toward
- back away from
to move away slowly, often from something threatening
文法句型
close in on + noun phrase
用法筆記
Often used in continuous tenses (is closing in on, were closing in on). The phrasal verb is inseparable — the object always follows 'on'. Common in news reports about police pursuits and in narrative writing for building tension.