Cerrar a cal y canto

[ROBINDESBOIS]

este dicho tiene una fuerza expresiva enorme, y se usa para decir que cerramos algo de tal forma que es da la impresión de que nadie habita en el lugar. Existe algo en inglés para decir lo mismo.

[ROBINDESBOIS]

cuando algo cierra algo a cal y canto parece que no existe vida en el edificio o la casa.

[poli]

Sealed with stone and cement.

[ROBINDESBOIS]

is that a saying or just a translation ?

[Rusty]

I don't believe we have a saying, but we have ways to say this.
locked up tight
shut up tight
boarded up (tight)
looks deserted
not lived in
vacant
vacated (premises)
closed for years

[Tomisimo]

Also:

It looks like a tomb (in there).
It's sealed shut.

[bobjenkins]

la impresión de que nadie habita en el lugar

It's a ghost town?

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

In Mexico it's said "cerrar a piedra y lodo"


@Bob: it's not so much like a ghost town, but rather that the place doesn't have doors but rather stone walls. :)

[sosia]

"cerrar a cal y canto" means literally "to seal with whitewash and rocks" (middelage), now we would say, like poli, "Sealed with stone and cement/Sealed with bricks and cement"
It's used when you close something, so tight, you want to forget it.
examples
"El viejo manicomio se cerró a cal y canto, ya nadie vive allí"
"la investigación se cerró a cal y canto, ya no hay anda más que hacer"
"no consigo sacar información de esa comunidad, todos tienen la boca cerrada a cal y canto"
Saludos :D

[Rusty]

Thank you, sosia. We could insert a couple of different phrases in each of the samples you gave, but 'was sealed shut' (offered by David) works pretty well for se cerró. And 'mouths sealed shut' works for the other.