What Does Fechar Mean? 18 Portuguese Expressions We Use in Brazil

Looking for the fechar meaning in Portuguese? The short answer is "to close": fechar a porta is to close the door and fechar um acordo is to close a deal. And if you also speak Spanish, heads-up: here in Brazil fechar has nothing to do with putting a date on something like the Spanish "fechar", so don't let that false friend trick you.

We Brazilians use this verb for way more than opening and closing things. A "Fechou!" is our way of saying "Deal!" or "I'm in!", someone with a cara fechada is in a bad mood, and fechar o cerco means closing in on someone until they have no way out. On top of that, the adjective fechado in Portuguese (or fechada, in the feminine) shows up in everyday phrases like "regime fechado" or "o tempo tá fechado".

A spelling tip a lot of people look up: it's written with CH, fechar and fechou, never "fexar". In Portuguese, CH sounds like the English "sh", so fechar sounds roughly like "feh-SHAR". In this lesson I'm sharing 18 expressions with fechar in Portuguese, each one with real sentences the way we say them in Brazil, plus a bonus section at the end with fecho, fechadura, and other words from the same family.

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List of Phrases with the Verb Fechar in Portuguese

These are the expressions with the verb fechar you'll hear the most in Brazil, from "fechar a cara" to "fechar com chave de ouro". Each one comes with its meaning and a real sentence, so I recommend reading them out loud to help them stick.

Fechar o tempo

Fechar o tempo means the sky is clouding over and rain is on the way, like when a sunny afternoon suddenly turns gray right before a summer storm. In Brazil we also use it figuratively: if "o tempo fechou" during an argument, things just got ugly.

• Nossa, o tempo tá fechando, você tá de moto né?

Fechar o bico

Fechar o bico literally means closing your beak, in other words, shutting your mouth. "Bico" is a bird's beak, and we use this expression in a casual, slightly blunt way to ask someone to keep a secret or stop talking, a lot like "zip it" or "keep your trap shut" in English.

• Ei, vê se fecha o bico quando mãe chegar, se ela descobrir o que a gente fez estamos ferrados.

Fechar o cerco

The expression "fechar o cerco" means someone or something is being cornered or pressured, with few ways to escape. It describes a situation that keeps getting tighter, where the person or group involved runs out of options, pretty much like "closing in on" someone or "tightening the net" in English.

• A gente vai ter que fechar o cerco pra essas coisas não voltarem a acontecer.

A conta não fecha

When we say a conta não fecha, it means something doesn't add up: the numbers don't work, or a story has parts that don't fit together. It works for household finances and also for when you suspect someone is feeding you a line.

• Rapaz, essa sua história aí tá meio estranha, essa conta não tá fechando.

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Fechou!

Fechou! is Brazilian slang for "Deal!", "You got it!", or "I'm in!", and it's the fastest way to accept a plan. So the fechou meaning is basically a super casual "OK, done", and if you've ever asked yourself "what does fechou mean?", now you know. You'll also hear it as "fechou então" or "fechou, né?", and it's just one of the Brazilian slang words we use the most.

• Quer dar uma volta na praia com a gente?
  - Fechou!

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Levar uma fechada

Levar uma fechada is when another car suddenly cuts you off on the road; the driver who does it "dá uma fechada". It's an expression you'll hear a lot when you learn traffic vocabulary in Portuguese, usually along with a good scare.

• Ontem eu levei uma fechada de um cara que tava numa carreta, pense num susto, meu coração ficou batendo a mil por hora por uns 3 minutos.

Fechar o cu

Fechar o cu is a vulgar expression we use to say someone got really, really scared, kind of like saying you almost crapped your pants in English. Only use it with people you're close to, and if you want to see how many more expressions come from this word, check out the meanings of "cu" in Portuguese.

• Quando ele me falou que pai tava na UTI eu fechei o cu.

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Fechar a cara

Fechar a cara means putting on a sour face, showing with your expression that you're mad or annoyed. That's why, when someone is serious and in a bad mood, we say they're "de cara fechada", and the classic question in Brazil is: "Por que você tá de cara fechada?"

• Você sabe por que é que sempre que eu chego ele fecha a cara?

Fechar um acordo

Fechar um acordo means closing a deal, and we also say "fechar negócio" or "fechar um contrato" when we reach an agreement with someone. It's one of the phrases you'll hear most at the office, along with other work expressions in Portuguese.

• Já fechamos o acordo com a empresa.

Fechar o ciclo

Fechar o ciclo, or "fechar um ciclo", means closing a chapter of your life, whether it's a job, a relationship, or a city you lived in, so you can start something new. We use it a lot when someone wants to leave the past behind without carrying any baggage.

• Temos que fechar esse ciclo antes de começar outro relacionamento.

Fechar com chave de ouro

Fechar com chave de ouro literally means "to close with a golden key", and it's our version of "to end on a high note": finishing something in the best possible way. We use it for the last days of a vacation, an event, or a project that went so well it deserves a finale to match.

• Acho que pra fechar as férias com chave de ouro a gente poderia fazer uma viagem num cruzeiro.

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Fecha aqui com a gente

Fechar com alguém means being on someone's side, backing them up, or joining their plan. When someone in Brazil asks "quem fecha comigo?", they're asking who's with them, and "fecha aqui com a gente" is a direct invitation to join the group.

• Quem fecha comigo?
• Fecha aqui com a gente pra resolver isso agora mesmo.

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Regime fechado

Regime fechado is the strictest prison regime in Brazil, where the person serves the entire sentence inside prison. Here fechado works as an adjective, just like in "tempo fechado" or "cara fechada", and it's the opposite of the semiaberto and aberto regimes. So whether you looked up the fechado meaning or the fechada meaning, the answer is the same word: "closed", in the masculine or the feminine.

• Ele foi condenado e agora tá cumprindo sua pena em regime fechado.

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Fechamento da empresa

Fechamento is the noun form of fechar and means closing or closure, so "o fechamento da empresa" is when a business shuts down for good. If you were looking for the fechamento meaning, in the next sections you'll see how it changes with context: events, business hours, the dollar, and the stock market.

• O fechamento dessa empresa tão grande foi um choque pra todo mundo, muitas pessoas perderam os empregos.

Fechamento do evento

Here "fechamento" works as a synonym for the end or the closing ceremony of something, and you can swap it for "encerramento", as in the two sentences below.

• O fechamento do evento foi muito bonito.
• O encerramento do evento foi muito bonito.

Horário de fechamento

Horário de fechamento is a place's closing time, like a store, a bank, or an office. It's the opposite of "horário de abertura", and you'll see it on signs and websites whenever you look up what time something closes in Brazil.

• O horário de fechamento do escritório mudou para as 6 da tarde.

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Fechamento do dólar

O fechamento do dólar is the value the currency ends the day at on the market, the closing rate you hear about on the news. If you're into this topic, check out my list of money vocabulary in Portuguese.

• O fechamento da cotação do dólar foi de R$5,00.

Fechamento do pregão B3 - Bolsa de valores

Fechamento do pregão is the close of the trading day on the stock exchange. In Brazil the stock exchange is called B3, and "pregão" is each trading session in which stocks are bought and sold.

• Veja os preços das ações no fechamento do pregão da B3 de hoje.

Bonus: Words from the Fechar Family

In this part I'm sharing words from the same family as fechar, like fechadura and fecho, plus one that sounds similar but has nothing to do with it. And if you want to know the opposite of fechar, I cover it in my lesson on feito and fato in Portuguese.

Fechadura

Fechadura is a door lock, the mechanism where you put the key. Don't mix it up with "fecho", which is the fastener on a piece of clothing or an accessory, as you'll see in the next sentences.

• A fechadura da porta tá quebrada, você conhece alguém que ajeita isso?

Fecho da calça

Fecho is the fastener of something, and on clothes it's usually the zipper, which in Brazil we also call "zíper" (an easy one for English speakers). So "o fecho da calça" is simply the zipper on your pants.

• Será que consigo trocar o fecho dessa calça em alguma loja aqui no shopping?

Fecho da pulseira

On jewelry, fecho is the clasp that keeps a bracelet in place. It's that tiny piece you open and close every time you put it on or take it off.

• Gostei da pulseira que ganhei de presente, a única coisa que vou trocar é o fecho.

Fecho do brinco

O fecho do brinco is the earring back, the little piece behind your ear that keeps the earring in place. If it's loose, the brinco falls off with any movement.

• O fecho desse brinco é muito frouxo, sempre que tiro o capacete o brinco cai.

Fecho do relógio

O fecho do relógio is the clasp or buckle on a watch strap. When it breaks, here in Brazil we take it to the "relojoeiro", the watchmaker, to have it replaced.

• Você sabe onde tem algum relojoeiro por aqui? Preciso trocar o fecho do meu relógio.

Fecho do sutiã

O fecho do sutiã is the bra clasp, usually the little hooks in the back. "Sutiã" is the word we use in Brazil for bra, and it comes from the French "soutien-gorge".

• Vou trocar esse sutiã porque o fecho incomoda muito, fica beliscando.

Feixe de luz

Feixe de luz means a beam of light, and it doesn't come from fechar, even though it sounds a lot like "fecho". Watch the spelling: feixe is written with X and fechar with CH, and since both make the English "sh" sound, that's exactly where the "fechar ou fexar?" doubt comes from. If the X trips you up, see how to pronounce the letter X in Portuguese.

• Depois que troquei a luz da moto ficou bem melhor pra viajar, o feixe de luz ilumina muito mais.