close the book on something—put an end to a matter; stop working on a case:
- The police insinuate that David may have been involved in illegal activities and seem to close the book on the case.
Note: The expression does not correlate in meaning with the phrase closed book, a—used of a person or thing one can’t figure out or does not know anything about:
- “At first, I politely refused the commission, as opera is a closed book to me,” says Tojuro…
close the books on something—balance accounts at the end of an accounting period:
- While residential brokerages expect to close the books next month on a record sales year, they are already seeing signs of a slowdown.
See also: open a book on something / open book, an.