What is "close corporation"

Corporation \Cor`po*ra"tion\ (k[^o]r`p[-o]*r[=a]"sh[u^]n), n. A body politic or corporate, formed and authorized by law to act as a single person, and endowed by law with the capacity of succession; a society having the capacity of transacting business as an individual.

Note: Corporations are aggregate or sole. Corporations aggregate consist of two or more persons united in a society, which is preserved by a succession of members, either forever or till the corporation is dissolved by the power that formed it, by the death of all its members, by surrender of its charter or franchises, or by forfeiture. Such corporations are the mayor and aldermen of cities, the head and fellows of a college, the dean and chapter of a cathedral church, the stockholders of a bank or insurance company, etc. A corporation sole consists of a single person, who is made a body corporate and politic, in order to give him some legal capacities, and especially that of succession, which as a natural person he can not have. Kings, bishops, deans, parsons, and vicars, are in England sole corporations. A fee will not pass to a corporation sole without the word ``successors'' in the grant. There are instances in the United States of a minister of a parish seized of parsonage lands in the right of his parish, being a corporation sole, as in Massachusetts. Corporations are sometimes classified as public and private; public being convertible with municipal, and private corporations being all corporations not municipal.

Close corporation. See under Close.

Close \Close\ (kl[=o]s), a. [Compar. Closer (kl[=o]"s[~e]r); superl. Closest.] [Of. & F. clos, p. p. of clore. See Close, v. t.]

1. Shut fast; closed; tight; as, a close box.

   From a close bower this dainty music flowed.
   --Dryden.

2. Narrow; confined; as, a close alley; close quarters. ``A close prison.''
   --Dickens.

3. Oppressive; without motion or ventilation; causing a feeling of lassitude; -- said of the air, weather, etc.

   If the rooms be low-roofed, or full of windows and doors, the one maketh the air close, . . . and the other maketh it exceeding unequal.
   --Bacon.

4. Strictly confined; carefully quarded; as, a close prisoner.

5. Out of the way observation; secluded; secret; hidden. ``He yet kept himself close because of Saul.''
   --1 Chron. xii. 1

   ``Her close intent.''
   --Spenser.

6. Disposed to keep secrets; secretive; reticent. ``For secrecy, no lady closer.''
   --Shak.

7. Having the parts near each other; dense; solid; compact; as applied to bodies; viscous; tenacious; not volatile, as applied to liquids.

   The golden globe being put into a press, . . . the water made itself way through the pores of that very close metal.
   --Locke.

8. Concise; to the point; as, close reasoning. ``Where the original is close no version can reach it in the same compass.''
   --Dryden.

9. Adjoining; near; either in space; time, or thought; -- often followed by to.

   Plant the spring crocuses close to a wall.
   --Mortimer.

   The thought of the Man of sorrows seemed a very close thing -- not a faint hearsay.
   --G. Eliot.

10. Short; as, to cut grass or hair close.

11. Intimate; familiar; confidential.

    League with you I seek And mutual amity, so strait, so close, That I with you must dwell, or you with me.
    --Milton.

12. Nearly equal; almost evenly balanced; as, a close vote. ``A close contest.''
    --Prescott.

13. Difficult to obtain; as, money is close.
    --Bartlett.

14. Parsimonious; stingy. ``A crusty old fellow, as close as a vise.''
    --Hawthorne.

15. Adhering strictly to a standard or original; exact; strict; as, a close translation.
    --Locke.

16. Accurate; careful; precise; also, attentive; undeviating; strict; not wandering; as, a close observer.

17. (Phon.) Uttered with a relatively contracted opening of the mouth, as certain sounds of e and o in French, Italian, and German; -- opposed to open.

    Close borough. See under Borough.

    Close breeding. See under Breeding.

    Close communion, communion in the Lord's supper, restricted to those who have received baptism by immersion.

    Close corporation, a body or corporation which fills its own vacancies.

    Close fertilization. (Bot.) See Fertilization.

    Close harmony (Mus.), compact harmony, in which the tones composing each chord are not widely distributed over several octaves.

    Close time, a fixed period during which killing game or catching certain fish is prohibited by law.

    Close vowel (Pron.), a vowel which is pronounced with a diminished aperture of the lips, or with contraction of the cavity of the mouth.

    Close to the wind (Naut.), directed as nearly to the point from which the wind blows as it is possible to sail; closehauled; -- said of a vessel.

n. a corporation owned by a few people; shares have no public market [syn: closed corporation, private corporation, privately held corporation]