From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
2. Secretly; privately. [Obs.]
That nought she did but wayle, and often steepe Her dainty couch with tears which closely she did weepe. --Spenser.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
adverb
1: in a close relation or position in time or space; "the onsets were closely timed"; "houses set closely together"; "was closely involved in monitoring daily progress"
2: in a close manner; "the two phenomena are intimately connected"; "the person most nearly concerned" [syn: {intimately}, {nearly}]
3: in an attentive manner; "he remained close on his guard" [syn: {close}, {tight}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
33 Moby Thesaurus words for "closely": all but, almost, as good as, barely, carefully, close, compactly, densely, firmly, hardly, heavily, heedfully, intently, just about, meticulously, mindfully, minutely, narrowly, near, nearly, nigh, nighhand, not quite, only just, pretty near, punctiliously, scrupulously, sharply, solidly, thick, thickly, thoughtfully, well-nigh
Define.com is a registered nonprofit corporation dedicated solely to the global public interest and the advancement of humanity. It belongs to all of us who have a desire to promote electronic democracy, science, creativity, imagination, reason, critical thinking, peace, race and gender equality, civil rights, equal access to education, personal liberty, free speech, animal rights, compassionate and nonviolent parenting, social and economic justice, global monetary reform, Secular Humanism, cognitive liberty and a permanent cessation of The War on Drugs.
Let's see what we can do if we put our heads together.
0