Meaning & use
close examination
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Meaning
nouncountable or uncountable
A careful and detailed look at something in order to understand or judge it.
Grammar: Often used with 'under' or 'on': under close examination, close examination of the data.
Patterns
- close examination of something
- under close examination
- on close examination
On close examination, the painting turned out to be a copy.
The report deserves close examination before we accept its conclusions.
Under close examination, the witness's story fell apart.
Word forms
| plural | close examinations |
|---|
Common combinations
- deserve close examination
- These figures deserve close examination.
- under close examination
- The theory holds up under close examination.
- on close examination
- On close examination, the two signatures differ.
- close examination of the evidence
- Close examination of the evidence revealed a gap.
Synonyms and how they differ
- scrutiny
- 'Scrutiny' is stronger and often suggests criticism or suspicion.
- inspection
- 'Inspection' usually means an official check of a place or object.
- review
- A 'review' can be less detailed and often happens over time.
Opposites
Word family
- examine verb
- To look at something carefully.
- examiner noun
- A person who tests or inspects others.
- examination noun
- A formal test or a careful study.
Commonly confused: close examination or examination?
close examination vs examination
On its own, 'examination' often means a school or medical test; adding 'close' makes it a detailed study.
Practice
The committee put the accounts under close ______.
Choose one answer.
The phrase 'under close examination' needs the noun; 'examine' is a verb, 'examining' is a participle, and 'examiner' is a person.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “close examination”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.