closely held

adjective

Definition of closely held

: having most stock shares and voting rights in the hands of a few

a closely held business

Recent Examples of closely held from the Web

The officials say that the identity of the source had been closely held at the highest levels of the FBI and intelligence community, and the individual has been a source for the FBI and CIA for years.

— maegan vazquez, CNN, "WSJ: Giuliani says Trump shouldn't talk to Mueller before getting information on FBI source," 20 May 2018
Hasbro, which ranks just behind closely held Lego in worldwide sales, suffered a 2 percent fourth-quarter drop, although full-year sales grew 3.8 percent.

— carol matlack, chicagotribune.com, "Toymakers struggle to crack the code of what kids want," 2 Apr. 2018
The negotiations have been closely held, but a resolution could arrive soon to avert the prospect of a grand jury subpoena, as happened to President Bill Clinton during Whitewater, or a lengthy court challenge reminiscent of the Watergate era.

— Washington Post, "No easy options for Trump lawyers handling interview request," 15 Mar. 2018
For 30 minutes or so, Pompeo would help Trump digest the country’s most closely held secrets about the world’s most pressing conflicts.

— elizabeth dias, Time, "Mike Pompeo Has What Rex Tillerson Didn't: 'Killer Graphics' and Trump's Trust," 13 Mar. 2018
But the process is usually closely held, making Dr. Dodd’s lawsuit a rare instance in which private grievances are being aired in the public domain.

— david w. chen, New York Times, "Disability Led to Tenure Denial at City College, Lawsuit Claims," 5 Mar. 2018
Administration officials also have suggested that results of that investigation were closely held within the office.

— robert costa, Anchorage Daily News, "Kelly makes changes to White House security clearance process after abuse allegations against top aide," 16 Feb. 2018
Google also requires OTAs to give its webcrawlers access to proprietary information including room availability, descriptions, pricing and custom bundles and other data—information that OTAs typically keep closely held from competitors.

— the editorial board, WSJ, "Google-Hotel Travelopoly," 28 Dec. 2017
The details, including the key question of who loses under the legislation, have been closely held by party leaders for months in order to keep lobbyists at bay….

— ed kilgore, Daily Intelligencer, "GOP In A Sweaty Panic On The Eve of the Tax Bill Unveiling," 31 Oct. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'closely held.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.