close the loop

verb

To follow up; to tie up loose ends; to resolve.

“Can you close the loop on this discussion by getting input from marketing and making a decision?”

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Meanings

verbclose the loop (third-person singular simple present closes the loop, present participle closing the loop, simple past and past participle closed the loop)

present singular third person closes the loop · participle present closing the loop · participle past closed the loop · past closed the loop

  1. intransitivecorporate jargonTo follow up; to tie up loose ends; to resolve.

    Can you close the loop on this discussion by getting input from marketing and making a decision?

Origin

Evidently by loose extension from control theory proper, regarding closed-loop control ("close the loop": "announce that enough feedback has been collected to successfully plan the system's next action"). Possibly influenced by the computer programming sense of "loop," in which program control will flow forever around an infinite loop until something is done to break (or exit) that loop.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

close the loop. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/close%20the%20loop

MLA

“close the loop.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/close%20the%20loop. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “close the loop,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/close%20the%20loop.

Source: close the loop on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.